Hitosawagase
by Esoteria
Summary: When Eri Kagurazaka is absent from school for illness, a twist of fate finds Sagara Sousuke the substitute teacher for a week at Jindai. Second of three independent volumes.
1. Chapter 1: Sagara sensei?

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FMP Fanfiction

Hitosawagase

by Esoteria

_Author's Note: This is the second "volume" of fanfiction I have written, with the first being Wo Futari De. Information regarding FMP's history and where these fanfictions lie in the timeline can be found in the introductory chapter to that volume._

_All information about posting schedules, feedback, and other news can be found in my profile. Thank you for reading! Reviews are **very**_ _much appreciated!_

Chapter 1

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"PRINCIPAL!" A flustered man burst loudly into the office.

"What is it, Kogure-sensei?" Jindai High School's principal responded calmly. "Since this is not the first time someone has burst into my office, I was expecting the vice-principal. I am pleased to see it is you, Kogure-san, unless we are having an incident with bread."

"Principal," Kogure panted briefly, having clearly run all the way to the office from wherever he was when he heard the news. "I'm willing to admit my actions regarding the sale of lunch bread by the student council were wrong… **however**! This is going too far! This time, we are allowing the students to teach their class!"

"Ahh, sensei…," the principal rotated in her chair and looked out of the window, sunlight reflecting off of her sincere eyes. "Don't you think it's wonderful that the students can be given such an opportunity?"

"But, Principal…"

"That our students could teach one another… to occasionally educate not by the paid hand of our instructors, but by the earnest efforts of the very students we mentors try to reach."

"Princ—…"

"Surely you, sensei, can understand what a privilege it is for us to be given time with this innocent group of young people, and to prepare them for a bright, vibrant future in our community… but why not allow these students the very privilege we have been given?"

"Principal…," Kogure-sensei was looking down, applying pressure to his temples. "I would not have a problem with it…," his eyebrow twitched occasionally, "if it weren't _that_ class…."

"But it is Kagurazaka-sensei that is sick this week, so naturally we would give this wonderful opportunity to her class."

"…There are rumors, Principal, that the school is having financial troubles again…"

"Ludicrous."

"…They say we may be having difficulty funding even the most basic needs…"

"Preposterous."

"…Basic needs such as substitute teachers…."

"That has nothing to do with it."

Kogure-sensei's shoulders dropped, and he let out a giant sigh. He turned around and walked to the door.

"Sensei…" came the principal's voice. The teacher looked back at her, the door halfway open. "I can rest assured that we won't have any… troubles regarding this issue?"

The door was almost closed before Kogure-sensei's affirmative "Yeah" was heard.

----

Kagurazaka's class was in disorder, students sitting on desks, speaking loudly to one another. "Did you hear?" "...so what do you think happened?" "I told you she looked bad last week!"

**WHAM!** Chidori Kaname smacked her large fan against the blackboard. The discussion died down a few seconds later.

"Alright, as class rep, it's my duty to introduce our substitute, since as you _all appear to know_," she said the last phrase with immense sarcasm, "Kagurazaka-sensei is out sick for this entire week."

The commotion restarted immediately, as everyone's suspicions were confirmed. "So who do you think it is?" "Oh, I hope he's cute!" "Baka, it might not even be a 'he.'"

"Shut up!" Another smack to the blackboard caused the commotion to die down again. "As I was trying to say, it is _normally_ my duty to introduce our substitute, _however_…"

All remaining speech from the class ceased, and all the students turned their full attention to the front.

"_Thank_ you." Kaname let out a sigh, a small white cloud from her mouth appearing briefly. "However, I have been informed that we are not getting a substitute this week. Instead, one of us students…," She paused to let her words sink in as she scanned the classroom, "…will be responsible for teaching the lessons."

Uproar ensued briefly before another whack that probably could've been heard several classrooms down shot its way through the classroom. "Shut! Up!"

"Now, I've already prepared a drawing to see who it will be. Because I'm the class representative and I will be reporting the chosen student's progress to the higher-ups, I'm sorry to tell you all that I will be exempt from this drawing."

Dead silence. An airplane passed overhead, its full Doppler effect being heard in the quiet. A few students looked around nervously.

Chidori's eyebrow twitched angrily, until at last she received an only half-disappointed-sounding "aww…" from two or three students. When she finally reached into the small bowl of folded paper, the room's air became thick.

"Who do you think…?" whispered a student. "I don't think I could do it if it was me…" responded another.

Kaname slowly reached into the bowl, dramatically removing one slip. "So, our substitute student teacher for the week will be…."

She unfolded it, and looked.

Kaname's shoulders dropped and her entire stature shortened slightly.

The whole class followed suit before she said anything.

One of the students sullenly wailed "Don't tell me…." A few glares were directed towards the back of the room.

Chidori took a very deep breath and said, "Sagara… Sousuke."

The entire class let out a defeated sound as they sank into their chairs. Some of them collapsed on top of their desks and didn't move. Somewhere in the front of the room, a female student managed "Why—? Why is it always him?" Several pathetic-sounding whimpers followed from around the classroom.

**WHACK**. "Alright, class, that's enough whining," Kaname made a concerted effort to straighten her posture and continue. "Now that we have named our teacher, we need to decide on the lesson for the week."

She was answered by a few incoherent moans.

"I was given a list of possible subjects, and decided the fairest way to see which we'll be studying would be by another drawing."

More grumbling.

Kaname produced, from behind the front desk, another bowl with paper. Without hesitation she reached in and chose one of the slips. Most of the class managed to look up half-heartedly to see what their punishment would be.

Chidori unfolded slowly, and looked down.

…She blinked for several seconds in silence.

"Just tell us," said someone on the front row finally. Kaname grunted at them.

"Kana-chan, fight!" Kyouko's cheer snapped Chidori out of her trance.

"Well then…" she said quietly. "The subject for this week will be…"

"…will be?"

"Will be… the first World War."

The entire classroom made a huge crashing sound. Several students had actually fallen out of their chairs and now lay lifeless or twitching on the floor.

Sousuke Sagara sat stiffly in the back of the room with his arms crossed in front of him. "Hmm. How fortunate that the subject lies in my area of expertise."

"Why—!" came the same female voice, muffled this time.

----

At lunchtime, Sagara sat outside, chewing on some form of dehydrated meat. The sliver of open land was contained by classrooms on all sides but one, where some particularly devoted athletes were practicing on the field. The noises of students nearby didn't bother Sousuke, who was carefully considering his new assignment while seated on a bench near the covered way.

"Sousuke."

"Hmm?" Sagara looked up after hearing the nearby door close. "Ah, Chidori. I was hoping to talk to you."

Kaname stood over him with a few papers in her hand. "Yeah, well, here are the guidelines for your lessons this week. Try to have an introductory lesson for the afternoon class."

"Thank you. That should not be a problem."

She began to walk towards the opposing door when Sousuke stopped her. "Wait, Chidori…"

"What is it?"

"I have some concerns regarding how the class reacted to my selection this morning."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, but I believe I understand why I earned such a response."

She turned around and looked at him curiously. "You do?" she asked while taking a seat next to him.

"Yes. I think that my colleagues believe I will be harsh with assignments, both in how much work I assign and how strictly I grade them."

Chidori sulked momentarily. _Well, I suppose he's kind of on the right track..._ "I don't think that's quite it, Sousuke…."

"Really? Well, I do not think there should be any concerns in that regard. I will make an effort to teach according to the uneducated nature of the civilian when it comes to war."

"…Yeah."

"…Chidori."

"Hmm?"

"…You do not believe I will perform acceptably."

"Oh, no, Sousuke, that's not it—"

"It is apparent."

She looked down. "…Sorry."

_He saw right through me,_ she thought. _It's not really fair for me to criticize him when he's working so hard already, is it?_

"You know, Sousuke…"

"Hmm?"

"I… I know you'd work hard at it, but you don't have to do this…."

"…"

"The principal and your teachers know a little bit about your situation, right? You're already busy with Mithril stuff. We could go to them and ask them to assign a different student…."

Something about the word "we" in that sentence made Sousuke feel a little more at ease. "That won't be necessary."

"But…"

"Your concern is appreciated, Chidori. However, it would be worse if someone unknowledgeable in military tactics were assigned this curriculum."

Kaname's shoulders dropped. "Isn't that a little big-headed of you?" she mumbled under her breath.

"Did you say something?"

"Nope!"

"I see."

"Well then, good luck with it." Kaname stood up quickly and started walking away.

"Yeah. Thanks…." Sagara looked down at his curriculum seriously while Chidori disappeared into the building.

Sousuke leafed through the several sheets of paper defining what the daily life of Ms. Kagurazaka, or any other teacher, would have been like. He was surprised that there were very few guidelines in regard to what methods he used to teach. This might be chalked up to the increasing autonomy in Japanese schools like Jindai.

"SAGARA!" A loud yell was heard from the direction of the field.

Sousuke didn't look up. "Ahh, Tsubaki. What is it?"

Tsubaki Issei ran up and skidded to a stop in front of Sagara, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You…! YOU…!"

"Me?"

"I can't believe this is happening! Some war idiot like you teaching… teaching… _my Kaname!_"

"Kaname?" Sousuke was irritated that he had used her first name.

"This is unforgivable, Sagara! For the sake of all the students in your class, for the sake of Chidori Kaname, and for my sake…!" The dust around Tsubaki and on the bench on which Sousuke was sitting began to blow away. A large whirlwind appeared around him as his hair blew upward. Issei took out his thick glasses and put them on while the cyclone grew in intensity.

Sousuke sat silent, still reading over his notes.

"Burn, my life…," Tsubaki clenched his fists at his side. The air surrounding him turned to blue energy, making a crackling noise as it left his body. Sousuke turned the page and continued reading.

The nearby door to the building opened. "Sousuke! Lunch period is almost—what the?"

The crackling noise fizzled out and steam rose from Tsubaki's skin. The wind in the area died down quickly, and the dust settled to the ground again. He looked towards the door, dumbfounded, with his mouth partly open. "Chidori?"

Sousuke closed the notebook without haste, and opened his bag. After putting the notebook inside, he produced a pump-action shotgun. Taking a single shell from his belt, he loaded the weapon and pointed it at Tsubaki. **Blam! ** A practice round ricocheted off Issei's head. The martial artist went flying several yards before landing with a thud and producing a cloud of dust. Sagara put the weapon back in his bag and stood up. He collected the now empty shell from the ground and tossed it into the nearby trash can.

Walking towards the door, Sousuke said, "Forgive me, Chidori. Tsubaki was—"

"Never mind, Sousuke. I can guess." The two walked into the building, the door closing behind them.

Tsubaki Issei lay face up on the ground, two small rivers of tears rolling down either side of his face. "Why him?"

----

The commotion in the classroom was of a different type when the class met in the afternoon. Kaname was surprised to hear the noise die down to a dull roar when she and Sousuke entered the room. Students slowly took their seats as the bell rang.

Sagara collected his belongings from his desk and moved to the front of the room. He set his things down and whirled around, taking a parade rest position with his hands behind his back. He began speaking immediately.

"Class. It is my privilege to be allowed to instruct you this week. However, before I begin my assignment, I would like to give you all the opportunity to speak to me as your classmate, and not your instructor. Any advice or criticism is acceptable, and will be noted."

The class was silent as they stared at him. Sagara was looking straight forward, over the heads of the class, waiting for any motion. Kaname stirred in her seat, feeling she should say something but unsure what could be said.

Sousuke waited several moments. "Again, comments are allowable at this time. Is there anyone…?"

From an indistinct location in the back of the room a male voice spoke. "Yeah, I've got one…. Drop dead."

Chuckles came from several of the boys, and a few gasps of surprise came from some of the girls. "That's so mean!" One of them whispered.

Sousuke cleared his throat and the class's attention returned to him. "Thank you for your remark, Takahashi. It has been noted. I am, however, unable to comply with that order. Is there anyone else?"

The class remained silent for several moments.

"Very well." Sagara straightened his posture and moved behind the desk. "Well then." He put his hands stiffly at his side. "Platoo—er… Class, let's do our best." He bowed deeply and held the position, his eyes pointed at the desk.

Chidori moved slightly, thrown off guard by his uncharacteristic actions. She got up abruptly. "Stand!" The class stood. "Bow!" The class bowed, some students looking around to see if anyone did not.

"Thank you," said Sousuke, who turned around to pick up a piece of chalk.

(to be continued…)


	2. Chapter 2: Imagining Things

FMP Fanfiction

Hitosawagase

by Esoteria

Chapter 2

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The Jindai High School principal heard a soft knock on her door.

"Please come in," she said.

The teacher's stiff figure came inside, closing the door behind him slowly.

"Ah, Kogure-sensei. You seem to be in a much more composed state than earlier this morning. What can I help you with?"

"Principal. I have just heard the results of the drawings for the class."

"In that case, I am pleased, sensei, if surprised, that we did not have a recurring situation here in my office."

"I was prepared from the start for such results."

"I see. I imagine you are concerned for the proper education of these students. Perhaps we should put your mind at ease."

The teacher's eyebrows rose slightly.

"Shall we see how Sagara-sensei's introductory lesson is proceeding?"

The principal stood up slowly and walked to the door. "I have received reports from our liaison in the student council that he is taking his assignment quite seriously." She looked up at the ceiling before opening the door, her eyes collecting a small amount of water. "Ah, how wonderful that our--…. Never mind."

"Thank you, Principal."

The two walked down the sunlit hall. The principal's heels made a crisp echo with each step as she walked firmly down the foyer, her smile broadening with each step towards their destination.

Kogure-sensei walked uncomfortably, hands stuffed in his pockets, feet scuffing the floor with each stride, and sweating slightly more with each step towards their destination.

When they reached the door to Kagurazaka's class, the principal moved to the small window at the top of the door and peered in, while Kogure's perspiration collected. He swallowed while watching the principal's expression. With a brilliant smile and a visible tear falling down her cheek, she turned to him and motioned that he look inside.

Responding with slight confusion, the PE instructor looked inside, fully expecting a pile of weapons to be stacked on the front desk, and for Sagara to have the entire class armed to their teeth.

What he saw, however, was a composed student in uniform writing what appeared to be an outline on the chalkboard, with one hand behind his back. He occasionally placed the chalk at the board and turned to address the class. Kogure-sensei could not discern what was being said, but Sousuke was clearly addressing the class in an attentive manner. The whole group was sitting straight up in their seats and nodding in affirmation to Sagara's words.

"Wow."

"Shh! Kogure-sensei!" the principal whispered. "You'll disturb them."

She began walking down the hall again and after another glance inside, the PE teacher jogged to catch up with her.

"I must say, Principal. I was wrong about Sagara. He appears to be doing a great job." There was more than a hint of regret in his voice.

"I'm glad your worries are assuaged, Sensei. Shall we return to our work?"

"Yes, Principal. Thank you." Kogure-sensei turned down the next hall, parting ways with the principal. He heard the sound of her heels die away as she proceeded.

Kogure looked at one of the class's displays on the wall. Art from a previous event was exhibited.

As he pondered some of the pieces, he said to himself, "Maybe I've been a little too harsh with—"

**BLAM! Bla-Bla-BLAM!** Gunshots resonated through the halls. The teacher froze.

Looking slowly back to the intersection, he said "Pr-Principal?"

He walked with shaking steps back up the hall and poked his head around the corner, looking down at the class's door. Nothing was out of the ordinary. He looked the other way. There stood the principal, looking up at the sky through the window with her hands clasped at her chest. The sun was clearly dancing off of her sincere eyes even at this distance.

Kogure-sensei rubbed his temples. "I must be imagining things."

----

Sousuke lowered his weapon. "…However, this kind of pinpoint accuracy was not possible with the pistols existing in the First World War, and thus bolt action rifles were the mainstay of foot soldiers."

As he walked back towards the front of the room, he reloaded his weapon, switching back to a different clip. The students in the front of the room sat staring at the chalkboard, their pupils having gotten very small. Those in the back of the room were either sweating profusely or covering their ears. On the chalk board, Sousuke had marked four tiny X's no more than two centimeters wide. The practice rounds from the pistol had erased each X. If not for these marks, no one would have even seen where the shots had hit the sturdy board.

"Regardless of the soldier's skill, it simply could not be done with the equipment they had. On Thursday we will discuss in detail the weapons, from small arms to tanks, which were used in this war, and how they affected the outcome for each side."

Two girls looked at each other in the front of the room. One of them did not notice Sagara standing behind her and took out her planner and a bright-colored pencil.

_Thursday: Call in sick!_

"Hidaka!"

The girl froze, her pencil tip broken on one of the stars she was drawing next to the note. "Y-yes… sensei?"

"It appears you do not intend to come to the lesson on Thursday."

"U-umm…"

"A pacifist, perhaps?"

"N-no… well…"

Sagara walked towards the front while addressing the class. "Hidaka's theology is a respectable one. However, these weapons _were_ used, and they resulted in the deaths of many soldiers. We can stand to learn a lesson from this."

A few students raised an eyebrow.

"After all… a peaceful resolution is always best."

Several of them collapsed on their desks while the tension broke. One mumbled "Right…"

Sousuke ignored the comment. "Besides that…" He bent down to pick up one of the half-destroyed practice rounds he had shot earlier, inspecting it in front of the class. "The lesson on Thursday will be quite interesting, I assure you. And it will prepare us for our outing on Friday."

Kaname stared at him, a droplet of sweat running down her face. "Don't tell me…"

"As Chidori-san may have already guessed, I intend to take the class on a short field trip on Friday, if it is approved."

Many of the students perked up at the words "field trip." While it was clear that most of them were still scared stiff of the possibilities, they would probably come out of sheer curiosity.

_Oh well_, thought Kaname, _if it's something _he_ came up with, it probably won't get approved anyway._

"Be aware that if this trip is approved, I will not allow anyone who has an absence this week to come, as this mission will require a certain level of familiarity with the material."

A soft chatter erupted in the class.

Before Sagara could regain the attentions of the group, the bell rang.

"Well then, please be prepared tomorrow for the lesson on the pre-war politics. You may direct any questions about the material to me at any time during the day. I have been instructed to use Kagurazaka-sensei's desk for this week. Class is dismissed."

"Stand!" Chidori shouted. Chairs made noise while moving across the floor. "Bow!"

----

When classes were over, Sagara and Chidori met up as usual to walk home.

"Ahh… the weather feels nice, doesn't it?"

Sousuke looked at Kaname, curious at her starting conversation this way. "Yes, I enjoy the fall."

"Really? I didn't think you would really like one season or the other."

"No, the late autumn months are definitely the best. One can see clearly through the bare branches of the trees, making a sniper using infrared while in cover unlikely."

Kaname hung her head. "Oh."

"Also, in late autumn the temperature has not dropped significantly. One can still move tactically at night without the need for well-insulated clothing, which restricts movement."

"I should've known it would be something like that."

Sousuke made an uncertain face. "Hmm, why do you like the weather, Chidori?"

"Hmm… well… that is…"

A long silence. The two's footsteps on the leaves made loud crunching sounds.

"…I don't know." Chidori gave up at last.

"I see."

Another long silence. Kaname had been clearly ignoring the subject of Sousuke's teaching. Still, she couldn't help but notice his school bag bulging.

"Wow… they must have given you a lot of things to teach, huh?"

"Ah. Actually, these papers are information I gathered myself this afternoon. Since politics can be quite uninteresting to most civilians, I decided it would be best if I discussed only the most important facts tomorrow.

"This," he said while removing one of the thick stacks of paper, "is the _Chronology of the War_." He spoke in English when reading the title. "It is a source of daily war activity from internal politics to the situation on the front lines. It contains a level of detail that was unprecedented for its time."

"Ohhh…" Kaname sounded fairly impressed.

"I also have excerpts from several hundred government documents related to the war."

"Can you really go through all that tonight?" Kaname looked at even more papers when Sagara replaced the _Chronology_.

"It will take some time; however, I already know much of the information that is contained in these documents. It is still a humbling experience. I was unaware of how much available information there was on this war. I'm glad I was given this opportunity."

Kaname frowned and looked down at the bag she was holding in front of her. "Sousuke…"

"Yes, Chidori?"

"I'm really sorry about earlier today."

"It is not a problem."

"…" Kaname decided not to say anything else.

After a while, the two found themselves at the adjacent apartment buildings.

"Well then, Chidori, if you'll excuse me, I should get started on the material."

"Yeah… okay… see you later."

They parted and entered their respective buildings without another word.

----

The phone in a person's pocket rang. They hit the receive call button.

"Yeah? Who is it?"

"It's me."

"Sousuke? What's going on?"

"I need your help with something."

"Hmmm? Help, from me? Haha. I don't think I heard you quite clearly."

"I won't be entertaining your ego today, but I do think you'll be interested in this opportunity."

"Alright, let's hear it."

(to be continued…)


	3. Chapter 3: A New Student

_Author's Note, 06/18/2007: A reviewer had informed me of some mistakes in the history of the Great War that is contained in this chapter. Please be aware that I'm working diligently to ensure that my history is correct, here. This current version seems to be mostly correct, but it may require further editing in the future._

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FMP Fanfiction

Hitosawagase

by Esoteria

Chapter 3

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The young girl stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her body, securing it at her chest. She looked into the mirror.

"Okay, Kaede," she said to herself quietly. "Your first day at Jindai."

She was a young-looking girl for her age, small in stature. She had no clearly defining features, but was not unattractive. She took the hair dryer from its holster next to the mirror and turned it on, humming to herself while drying her straight, medium-length hair.

When the song she was humming got to the chorus she sang softly. "And don't look at me with those dark blue eyes... lala la la" She giggled to herself. When she finished drying her hair she pulled one side of the mirror to reveal a medicine cabinet. From here she took her contact case out and closed the mirror-door again. She opened the caps to reveal two deep blue colored contacts.

"Boring, brown eyes…. Now you see them…" She held her eyelid open and touched the contact to her eye, repeating her procedure on the other side. "And now you don't!" She blinked several times. The unusual eye color added a mysterious feel to an otherwise normal face.

Finally, she collected all her belongings and went into the bedroom.

"Kaede! Don't be late on your first day," a gruff, low voice called to her from down the apartment hall.

"I won't! I have to go early to meet my teacher." After dressing in her new uniform, she looked at her bed, upon which lay three romance novels, one turned upside down, opened to a page. She picked each up and placed them in the bookshelf, which housed at least two dozen more of the same genre. She selected one carefully from the collection and picked it up along with her bag. She opened the door and walked out into the dining area. Her father was sitting at the table, watching the morning news on the television.

"Have a safe trip," he said without turning to her.

Kaede made an offended growling noise. "Dad!"

"What?"

"At least tell me how it looks!"

"Oh… sorry." He whirled around in his chair and looked her over. "Hmm… not bad. It's a little weird though."

"What do you mean, 'weird?'"

"Well, it doesn't look bad, but the style… well, what do I know anyway. Just don't get too attached to it, you're only here for a month."

"I told you when you said we were moving again that I wanted to go to Jindai because they had such cute uniforms… you could at least remember." She made a fake whimpering sound and wiped a nonexistent tear from one eye.

"Oh, quit it." His eyes found the novel she was holding and he changed the subject. "Haven't you read that one already?"

"This is only the fourth time…" she said, gazing at the cover.

"…Right. Well, you really should get going. Make some new friends and all, but…"

"Yeah, I know. Don't get too attached. You always say that."

"It's for your own good, you know. Oh, and be careful when using 'it.'"

"Dad!"

"What? You know what I'm talking about."

Kaede turned on her heel and walked to the door. "Itekimasu!"

"Itterashai." Her father turned back to the television.

She took one more look at her book before opening the door. _Even if I'm only here for a month… maybe…. _Her face turned red briefly before she shook her head and left.

----

Sagara had arrived at the office about an hour before any of the other instructors did. The sun was still down and only a janitor had been milling about in the school when he asked him to unlock the office door.

The elderly janitor had looked at him strangely, and then unlocked the door for him, mumbling about young teachers these days, or the price of tea, or something like that.

Sousuke felt slightly uncomfortable in his dress shirt and pants. He generally wore only tactical clothing or his uniform. He had these business-casual clothes from nearly two years ago when on an undercover mission. Mithril generally assigned Kurz and Mao as disguised characters, and left Sousuke to secure the area and provide reconnaissance; however, this mission had been an exception.

Sagara sat down at Kagurazaka's desk and began looking over his material for several minutes.

----

It was still pretty early now, but most of the teachers had now arrived, and there were a few students milling about. Sousuke scanned over his notes for the morning class when there was a knock at the office door. One of the other teachers went to open it.

Sagara overheard the teacher talking to a student. "You're in which class?" they asked. "…Oh, I'm a little new here myself so I don't know everyone, but the teacher for that class has their desk over there." The man pointed to Kagurazaka-sensei's desk, where Sousuke sat.

The student approached Sagara, who was still buried in his notes. "Um…"

Sousuke looked up from the desk at the girl. "Ah. I don't recognize you from our class." Sagara gave the girl a stiff salute, which she returned with pointed uncertainty.

"Well… that's because I'm a new student here, this is my first day…"

"Ah, that's right; I was told that a new student would be attending Jindai for the next few weeks." _Come to think of it_, Sousuke pondered, _a few weeks? That's a little strange. I guess she's used to these kinds of introductions, then._

"Um… yes, that's me."

Sagara made leafed through some of the pages scattered about the desk before he found what he was looking for. "So you must be—"

"Actually, sensei… um…," she looked away momentarily, "I… don't like to be called by my last name… so… just Kaede is fine…."

Sousuke looked at her, baffled. No one asked to be called by their first name by a stranger. Sagara rubbed his chin as he looked down at the page again. _This sort of instant familiarity isn't too unusual in the military, but for a civilian…._ _Hmm…and the last name…suspicious._

When he looked up another time, he made eye contact. "Alright, that's fi—" _Colored contacts! There's no doubt about it…._

Sousuke flew up from his seat and grabbed the student in a headlock from behind, pointing his gun to her face. "What are you doing here? Who do you work for? Why are you spying on our class?" he yelled.

Outside in the hall, Kaname was walking to class when she happened to look in the office window. There stood Sousuke, holding someone who was clearly a student hostage and screaming at them while all the teachers stood bewildered.

The door flew open. "SOUSUKE!" … **Whop!** Sousuke fell to the ground, leaving Kaede fighting back tears.

"That hurt, Chidori."

"What are you doing to this poor girl, Sousuke?" she demanded.

"Chidori, I can explain. She's a spy."

Kaname went limp. "Not this again, Sousuke."

"There is an immense amount of evidence to support this."

"…Really."

While Kaede struggled for breath, Sousuke picked himself up from the floor and dusted off his dress pants. "Yes. The student profile is lacking a significant amount of information on this girl's parents and heritage. She also says she does not like to be referred to by her last name, obviously because she changes it so often to match her disguise. Today she is guised as an innocent student who came to introduce herself."

"How is that an immense amount of evidence? Does this girl look even remotely dangerous to you?" She pointed at her while staring Sagara down.

"A professional can—"

"You can't just go pointing guns at students when you first meet them!"

"But Chidori, she's wearing colored contacts…"

"Aaaagh!" Kaname scratched her head furiously with both hands in frustration. "Forget it!"

"But she—"

"Shut up!" She looked at Kaede, "Come on, we've got to go to class."

Kaede walked sheepishly behind Chidori as she went through the door. She glanced back to find Sagara searching for something in his bag.

_Too suspicious. I don't trust this girl… but she won't make her move this early. She'll wait until everyone is comfortable with her, and then…._

The teachers in the office all stared at Sousuke while he looked at the ceiling and silently clenched his fist. After this he quickly gathered all of his materials and left the room.

Moments later, when he entered the classroom, he felt many eyes fall on him as he walked to the front. _Has she already convinced them that I am an enemy?_

One of the male student said "Sagara-sensei, are you going to dress like that all week?"

_Oh… maybe it was just this_, he thought, looking down at his clothing. "Um… well, I thought it would be more fitting… but…"

"It looks weird," said one girl.

"Yeah, those clothes don't suit you Sagara-sa—um… Sagara-sensei," said another.

"Hmm… perhaps you are right. Thank you, I will return to my usual attire tomorrow. Now, if you will all take your seats," the bell rung immediately, "I believe it is time to begin."

Kaede was standing uncomfortably at the door in the front of the room. _The clothes don't suit him? I wonder if he normally wears something more formal… maybe a suit…teachers here might be strict about that stuff._

"Class, I would like you all to greet a new student, who will be with us for only a few weeks."

Kaede walked past Sagara to the front of the room. When she passed, she heard Sousuke whisper, _"We'll play it your way… for now."_

After looking at him in utter confusion, Kaede turned to the class and bowed. "Nice to meet you all."

Sousuke picked up. "This student has been highly acclaimed by her last school, for she excels in both academics and athletics."

While the class emitted an "Ohhhh!" in awe, Kaede turned deep red, and turned around saying, "Sensei! You don't have to…"

_Amazing! She can even feign embarrassment with ease. She will not be an easy enemy to defeat._ "She has also requested that we refer to her by her first name, Kaede. I will leave any details about this appeal up to her to divulge, but while it may be slightly unusual, please try to abide by this request."

One of the students said, "Hmm… maybe it's a really funny last name."

"Or maybe it's the last name of some serial killer or something!" Said another excitedly.

Kaede tried to say something. "Well, it's not really… um…."

"Kaede-san, please tell us something about yourself before we get started."

"Um… hmm… something about myself… well…"

_She maintains this innocent composure…._ "Perhaps your hobbies?"

"Well… I do… like reading romance novels." She produced the book she had brought with her.

A small amount of chatter covered the room before Sagara spoke again. "Well then, Kaede-san, we unfortunately do not have time to introduce everyone in the class to you, but our class representative is Chidori Kaname, who I believe you already met. You can come to she or myself any time. Please take your seat."

Kaede bowed again before taking her seat towards the back, near Kaname, who looked at her with a reassuring smile as she sat down.

"I will begin immediately." Sagara began writing the names of countries on the blackboard. "The First World War began in the year 1914. The main forces in this war were decided early in the conflict. There had been fighting between Austria-Hungary and Serbia for some time before war broke out when Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was the next in line for the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated on July 28."

Sousuke spoke quickly, and the students struggled to keep up in writing notes. "It was clear several days later that this would be what was called 'the war to end all wars.' Germany declared war on France and Russia in early August, and then proceeded to invade Belgium, which, you may know from previous lessons on the subject, was neutral. Great Britain immediately responded by declaring war on Germany. In a matter of seven days, seven countries were at war."

Sousuke finished writing the names of seven nations on the board. He pointed to one in particular. "Germany was the most intelligent and arguably the most technologically advanced society in the world at this time. If there's one thing to be gained from the first and second World Wars, it is that education on its own is not a deterrent of bigotry and intolerance."

While Sousuke continued, Kaede began looking around the room. She caught sight of one of the male students looking longingly at a female student near him. When he looked in Kaede's direction, she caught his eye and grinned at him, mischievously tilting her head toward the object of his affection.

The boy froze with fear and turned to the front, having seen clearly that Kaede noticed his actions. _Ahh! She looked so innocent at the front of the class, but she's really a demon! She's going to tell everyone I like Tokiwa-san!_

When he dared to look back in her direction, she smiled slightly and ran her thumb and forefinger over her lips, "zipping" them closed. The tension in the boy faded and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Kaede continued picking out existing, developing, or possible relationships among the class for nearly an hour, when she noticed Kaname. _She seems a little too interested in Sagara-sensei…._

"Kaede." She jumped when Sousuke called her name. "Um… yes?"

"Do you happen to know when Japan declared war?"

"Umm… the next month… maybe?"

"Close. August 23, the same day Austria-Hungary started their invasion of Russian Poland." Sousuke went back to the blackboard to write the date.

Kaede relaxed once the attention was off of her.

Sagara continued. "Speaking strictly politically, there were only two other major countries involved in this war. Does anyone know what countries those were?"

Shinji raised his hand.

"Kazama-san."

"Um… Turkey and Italy?"

"Excellent." The class turned to Shinji and congratulated him. "Turkey, which was not yet the republic it is today, unofficially joined the war on October 29, on the side of the Central Powers. Italy—" The bell rung suddenly. "Well, that's all for this period. Please return this afternoon ready to begin immediately."

Sousuke stiffly raised his arm and saluted the class. "Dismissed!"

Silence.

Sagara looked confused for a moment, and then put his hand down slowly. "Uhh… dismissed?"

Kaname looked around to see everyone waiting for her. She stood up slowly, looking for a signal from Sousuke.

"Um… stand?"

The class stood up slowly, an uncomfortable air filling the room.

"…bow…"

The class bowed. Sousuke returned to the board and began erasing as the students silently filed out of the room. Kaname left as well, after giving Sagara a concerned look.

When all the students were gone, Sousuke sat down and exhaled loudly.

_This… is torture. As though this teaching assignment wasn't difficult enough, I've had to keep an eye on that new girl the whole time. I have a new respect for the instructors at this school._

Sousuke got up and finished erasing the board. _So far she hasn't made a move bu-- Crap! She could be anywhere by now!_ Sagara threw the eraser aside and removed his pistol, racing out of the room. Rounding the corner at the door, he immediately collided with something.

"Kyaa!" Kaede flew a meter or two backward before hitting the ground. Sousuke had maintained forward momentum and managed a recovery by means of a shoulder roll.

Stunned, Kaede sat up and blinked several times. "Oww…"

"Sorry!" Sagara said without looking down, and sprinted to the door at the end of the hall, weapon drawn. _Where could she be?_

(to be continued…)


	4. Chapter 4: A Bet with High Stakes

FMP Fanfiction

Hitosawagase

by Esoteria

Chapter 4

---- 

At lunch time, Sousuke found Kaname outside in the courtyard where they had been meeting recently. He jogged up to her, panting.

"Chidori!" he wheezed, "Have you seen Kaede?"

"No, I haven't. Why are you so worn out? And why do you need to find Kaede-san? Isn't she going to be in the next period?"

Sousuke straightened up and took a deep breath. "I need to capture her and perform a full-scale interrogation. I cannot go easy on her just because she is young. Many lives could—"

Inside, Kaede was walking down the hall, peering into different rooms. **Whap-whap! _Whop!_** The sound came from outside. Kaede ran to the nearby door and looked outside.

"You are _not_ going to interrogate the poor girl, Sousuke!"

He was face down on the ground, Kaname was grinding her foot into his back while yelling at him, fan in hand.

"Bff Chdrry, ff ff cllrr" Sousuke was trying to talk into the ground.

"I can't understand you." Kaname took her foot off. Sousuke rolled over and got up, brushing himself off.

"I'm trying to tell you, that hurts." He coughed a few times and continued. "I still can't be convinced that she's harmless. There are too many clues which instigate her as a spy."

Still inside, Kaede was watching from the door, cracked slightly. She bit her lip as she watched, with a huge smile.

"Well," Sousuke said, "it may be true that it is too early to take such action. I shall monitor her movements for now. Actually, for the moment I must have correspondence with the principal. I intend to discuss the field trip on Friday with her."

"Ahh… that. You know, Sousuke, I really don't—…. Never mind, good luck with it."

"Thank you." Sagara walked briskly to the door. He opened it and paused for a moment at the doorway. _Hmm…._ Finally he turned down the hall to the principal's office.

On the other side of the opened door was Kaede, stiff as a board and unable to breathe. When she saw that she had gone unnoticed, she went slightly limp while exhaling. _Scary…._ She went outside, finding Kaname still there.

Kaede walked up to her slowly. "Good afternoon, Chidori-san." She bowed deeply. "Thank you for this morning. I'm not sure why Sagara-sensei did that, though."

Chidori bowed in response. "There's no reason for that idiot's actions." A vein in her forehead became enlarged while she clenched her fist. She looked at Kaede, whose innocent demeanor suddenly changed.

She was looking behind her, finding no one in the vicinity. "So… why aren't you two dating yet?"

Chidori fell to the ground instantly with a loud crashing sound. She again returned to her feet in an equally efficient manner. "_What?_ Why do yo— How did— _What?_"

Kaede grinned slyly. "Ehehe! I think everyone else notices too, but to me it's really obvious."

Chidori turned beet red. "You're not go—I mean… you…"

Kaede was already off in her own world, looking up at the sky with her hands clasped at her chest. "Ahhh… it's so wonderful! A teacher and a student… the forbidden love… I think it's amazing. You're so brave, Chidori-san…" A small amount of water was collecting at the sides of her eyes.

"Uh, actu—"

Kaede grabbed Kaname's hand and held it with both of hers. She was clearly half-crying now. "Don't give up, Chidori-san! One day… one day you'll be able to say it to everyone!"

"But he's not a—"

"You'll be able to say 'I love my sensei and he loves me too!' to the whole world!"

"No, Kaede-san, you're no—"

"If you need anything… _anything_, just let me know. We could have him call in sick, and you could have a doctor's appointment… and then... and then…!"

Kaname's shoulders dropped and her arms hung limp. _It's no use. She's not even hearing me._ Chidori walked past Kaede and entered the building.

"And you could go to dinner that night, and then with the star-lit sky looking over you both you could… you could ki— hey? Where'd you go? Chidori-saaan!" Kaede began running to the door when it opened suddenly. Skidding to a stop, she narrowly missed colliding with the purple-haired girl standing there.

"Good day." Mikihara walked through the doorway calmly with both hands in front of her and bowed.

"Ah! Good afternoon. I am the new student, Kaede" She returned her bow.

Ren bowed even more deeply in response. "Kaede-san? I am Mikihara Ren, assistant to the Student Council President. Nice to meet you."

Both girls finally rose up from their bow. "Student Council? Hmm… maybe you can help me with something."

"What is it that you would like help with?"

"It's about Chidori-san and Sagara-sensei."

"Sagara-sensei? Ara…."

The two walked down the hall, talking.

The halls were busy with students starting to move back to class.

----

"…so that's what I think we should do to get them together!" Kaede looked at Ren excitedly.

"Hmm… Kaede-san, if you will excuse me, this is a stressful week for Sagara-sensei, perhaps we should look at this plan next week?"

"I guess you're right… Sagara-sensei does seem really stressed lately."

"Well, Kaede-san, I think you might find that being stressed is rather normal for Sagara-sa—um, Sagara-sensei."

The bell rung.

"Ah… we should get to our classes, Kaede-san."

"Yup!" Kaede turned around and took off down the hall in the other direction.

Mikihara spotted Hayashimizu walking in their direction. "Senpai! Good day."

"Good afternoon. Was that the new student you were talking to?"

"Ah, yes, it was Kaede-san."

"I see, what were you two talking about?"

Ren giggled softly. "I'll tell you…"

Several dozen meters down the hall, Kaede skidded to a halt, sensing something. She turned around to see the white-haired person with Mikihara, speaking jovially. _Hmmm… so you have one too, Mikihara-san?_

----

Chidori was already in the classroom, sitting at her desk sweating.

_Ahh...! What am I going to do? If I tell Kaede that Sousuke isn't the teacher, then she'll probably go blurting out something like "Then why don't you just hurry up and confess to him?" But our relationship is a little too complicated for that, anyway… I think._

"Are you here making up excuses for why you can't tell him?" Kaede said it softly while coming in.

Kaname turned white. "Uhh…." _How did she know that?_ Expecting Kaede to continue probing her while the rest of the class filed in, Kaname stayed stiff.

Kaede walked past her and sat at her desk as though she had said nothing.

The rest of the class had taken their seats as well when the bell rung again. Sagara hadn't arrived yet. The students started talking to each other, one going so far as to say "He might have given up on teaching us." Kaname wasn't concerned about that. She knew he was probably still getting his field trip denied. Besides, she still had Kaede to worry about.

Tokiwa Kyouko got up from her desk and approached Chidori. "Kana-chan, do you know where Sagara-kun is? He's pretty late."

Most of the class turned to Kaname, waiting for her answer. "H-Hey… why do you think I know?"

Suspicious looks came from several students.

"Fine! He said he was going to talk to the principal about the field trip."

The class got excited again. Chatter rose to a medium level as everyone discussed the possibility of getting out of classes on Friday. Chidori sat in her desk shaking her head.

"Kana-chan, you're not excited about the field trip?" Kyouko asked.

"Oh come on… we're talking about Sousuke here. Like it'd get approved. Ha…" Kaname's short laugh was full of sarcasm.

"Hmm…." A few seats over, Kaede got everyone's attention by asking "How would you like to make a bet on that, Chidori-san?"

"What? A bet?" Kaname looked at her, surprised.

"Yeah. I say it'll get approved."

Chidori grinned. "Now, Kaede-san, I know you're anxious to get to know us and all, but… Sousuke is—"

"You don't have to take the bet if you don't want to."

Kaname started to grind her teeth. _Who does she think she is? She doesn't know anything about the situation here. She thinks Sousuke is the real teacher! _She sat back in her chair, outwardly calm. "Well, I guess I can't pass up the opportunity for a free win. What are the stakes?"

Kaede stood up at her seat. "How about… the loser has to…"

Outside in the hall, the gasps of the entire classroom could be heard.

Kaname had turned red. "What… what kind of crazy bet is that?"

"Don't worry, if I lose, I'll do it."

"But…"

"You still don't have to take it."

Kaname growled and sat back in her chair. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway since I'll win. Fine. I accept."

Kaede's self-assured demeanor disappeared. "Yay!" she said excitedly, sitting back down. "I can't wait to see how it looks on you!"

Chidori's redness grew. "Baka! What are you saying? I'm not going to lose! You should be more worried about how it looks on _you_!"

Kaede smiled again, looking up thoughtfully. "Hmm… but I already know how it looks on me."

Some of the girls gasped again, looking at Kaede. _"She's… she's a little weird isn't she?"_ one whispered. A few male students were gathered in a huddle on the other side of the room, whispering to each other. Occasionally one would look back to Kaede. "What do you think?" "Hmm… I have a hard time visualizing it." "I could see it on Kaede-san, but on Kaname-san…" "Heh, it's getting my heart rate up just thinking about it." Chidori's sixth sense pervert-detection went off, and she glared in their direction. The huddle broke up immediately.

Sagara entered the room and closed the door behind him. "Class, I apologize for my tardiness. I was attempting to find the principal to discuss the field trip with her, but she is quite difficult to track down. I will have to attempt this again later. Please take your seats."

The class slowly returned to their desks, still looking in the direction of Kaede and Chidori occasionally.

"Chidori," Sousuke said from the front of the room. "You appear to be ill. Your face is quite discolored. You should go to the nurse's office."

"Shut up!" Kaname snapped back.

A moment of tense silence passed. A bead of sweat appeared on hers and Sousuke's face. "I mean… uh… I'm alright," she said.

After another moment's hesitation, Sagara turned to the blackboard. "As we were discussing this morning, Italy was one of the more interesting countries involved in this war.…"

(to be continued…)


	5. Chapter 5: Compromises

FMP Fanfiction

Hitosawagase

by Esoteria

Chapter 5

----

P.E. instructor Kogure had arrived on campus. He got out of his car and shut the door and he found himself thinking. _That Sagara…I guess I underestimated him. Two days he's been the teacher and he hasn't blown anything up or released a bacteriological weapon._

He sighed, looking down at the pavement. _I should go to the principal and apologize. Then I'll find Sagara and tell him to keep up the good work. Maybe then I can quit thinking about this._

With that, Kogure walked into the school and headed to the principal's office. He thought about what he was going to say to them both as he walked through the halls. When he got near the door to her office, he heard voices coming from inside. One was clearly the principal, and the other sounded like Sagara. Kogure couldn't help himself, and leaned near the door to listen in.

"So you want to take them where?" He heard the principal asking Sousuke.

Straining to hear as much as possible, he squatted down and pressed his ear to the door. After a few seconds, Kogure's eyes widened… then, listening harder, his jaw dropped. A minute more of listening made his knees start to buckle. Listening a little longer had him grabbing at his hair and trying to pull it out. Attempting to turn the knob on the door, he found it was locked. Finally he took several steps back, stumbling with disbelief, and straightened up. _I can't let this happen!_

Inside, Sagara was in a parade rest position, looking over the principal's head as he spoke in a loud voice.

"Yes ma'am, it would be possible to perform this mission on the school campus. I, too, think that would be safer."

"Well, as long as you can meet those few conditions, I must say I approve of this idea. I can see the class learning a great deal from it. As a matter of fact, if you would like to, we can have ano—"

**CRACK!**

Kogure stood at the doorway with the door nearly broken in half and hanging off of one hinge.

Sousuke whirled around immediately and fired.

When the diodes hit, arcs of electricity flew from Kogure-sensei's body, and he fell to the floor, his body steaming.

Sousuke lowered his stun weapon and looked at his victim. When he saw who it was his entire face was covered in sweat.

"Er… Principal, I… that is… I didn't think… I—"

The principal responded calmly. "Don't worry, Sagara-san. Kogure-sensei will be alright. You did the right thing."

Sousuke dropped the weapon and turned to an attention position.

"Uh… thank you, sir. I… appreciate your understanding, but it is quite unfortunate. I would not deliberately cause harm to such an excellent instructor, sir."

"Not to worry. Now, as we were discussing…"

Kogure lay in the doorway with his body convulsing, drooling on the floor.

The principal began to speak again when someone appeared at the right side of doorway. "Ah, Hayashimizu-san."

"Principal." Atsunobu bowed slightly. "Please excuse our interruption. We heard a commotion."

"It isn't a problem, Hayashimizu-san. But you said 'our?'"

"Ah, yes, excuse my rudeness." Atsunobu took a step to his right, shortly revealing Ren standing in her usual place of one step behind and one step to the left.

"Mikihara-san. Good morning to you both."

On the floor, Kogure's spasms stopped and he lay lifeless.

"Thank you, principal," responded Hayashimizu. Ren smiled in response.

"I don't suppose I could trouble you two for some help with Kogure-sensei?" she motioned to the body.

Atsunobu looked down. "Ah. This is indeed a problem. May I ask what happened here?"

"Sagara-san was simply acting in a defensive matter. Sagara-san, would you explain the situation?"

"Sir!" Sousuke stood still at attention, looking blankly over the principal's head. "I was discussing the curriculum with the principal when the door burst open. Without hesitation I neutralized the intruder. However, I did not properly identify said intruder before firing, and as a result, this instructor was knocked out. Sir!"

"Hmm…" Hayashimizu looked at the door, then at Kogure, then at Sousuke who was still at attention with his back facing them. "Yes, that was wise."

"I agree," said the principal. "Would you two possibly remove Kogure-sensei?"

"That would not be a problem." Both Ren and Atsunobu bowed before dragging Kogure out by the arms.

"Now, Sagara-san, barring any additional interruptions…"

----

Kaname was walking down the hall when Kaede caught up with her. "Chidori-san, you remember our bet, right?"

Kaname couldn't help but grin. "Oh, I remember."

"And you'll do it if you lose, right?"

"You had better ask yourself that question instead of me. There's no chance that Sousuke—"

"Does he not mind you calling him by his first name? Everyone else calls him Sagara-sensei."

"Uhh… well… about that…"

Hayashimizu and Mikihara passed the two, dragging Kogure behind them. Kaede and Kaname stared at them until they turned into another corridor.

"What was that?" Kaede asked.

"That's the P.E. teacher." Kaname replied in monotone.

"I wonder what happened to him" Kaede looked concerned.

"More than likely… Sousuke happened to him."

From behind came, "What is it, Chidori?"

Kaname yelped and jumped. "Geez! Don't scare me like that!"

"My apologies. I heard my name mentioned."

"Oh yeah… Sousuke, you didn't have anything to do with Kogure-sensei being dragged through here, did you?"

When Kaname turned to look, she saw him reloading the stun gun. "No," he said. "Nothing at all." Sagara put the weapon away and walked inside the classroom. Kaname and Kaede followed a moment later.

The classroom was fairly empty since it was still early. Kaede took her seat, followed by Kaname, who grinned at her when she sat down.

When Sousuke passed her desk while moving some materials, he asked "What are you smiling about?"

"Oh, Kaede and I just have a little bet going. A bet I'm sure to win."

"Is that so…," Sagara looked suspiciously at Kaede, who peered up at him innocently. _Argh! I can't be fooled so easily! I will root you out and prove you are the enemy!_ "…So," he said calmly, "what was this bet?"

"Hmm…" Kaname paused. Suddenly she realized something. _If I tell him I bet against his idea getting approved… that wouldn't be good. That would hurt anyone's feelings._ Chidori felt cornered. "Uhh… I can't tell you… it's part of the bet."

"Oh. Alright then." Sagara walked to the front of the room and continued preparing for the lesson.

Students filed in slowly until the bell rung at last.

Sagara began immediately. "Class, I'm sure you are interested in the results of my discussion with the principal."

A few students nodded in affirmation. "We also want to know why you're still wearing those clothes!"

Sagara ignored the comment. "Unfortunately, the principal and I did not agree on many things."

Kaname caught Kaede's eye and grinned. Kaede bit her lip and looked back to the front.

"However, a compromise is often the best solution. In short, we _will_ be able to have the trip on Friday, under several conditions."

Kaede looked back at Kaname, who now had a very dark cloud above her head and was laughing softly. "Heh… heheh… I lost…." When she looked up, she saw Kaede smiling at her, except that her smile was in the shape of a sideways 3, like a cat's mouth. Kaname shuddered and looked away.

"Possibly the most significant compromise I had to make was that the field trip cannot be off campus." Sousuke stood authoritatively over the front desk.

"Aww…," several students whined. "That's no fun at all!"

"I understand your disappointment. I, too, was hoping to find a larger and more suitable area for our hands-on lesson. However, I have spoken with a colleague of mine, and we believe we can make enough changes to the chosen area that we will be able to proceed properly. The area of campus is not directly connected to this one. It is the wooded area some distance from here that the school also owns."

Kyouko raised her hand. "Isn't that where we brought you and the rugby team onigiri, sensei?"

Kaname would have held her forehead when she remembered the scene if she were not already weighed down with the anxiety of her bet's punishment.

"Yes, Tokiwa, that is correct. Since it is a remote location, but still part of Jindai's campus, it will suit our needs quite well."

"But sensei," Kazama spoke up, "we don't even know what we're doing on the field trip yet."

"This is true," Sousuke began pacing back and forth in front of the board. "However, as you may already know, the reason I have withheld such information is to provide incentive for your continued progress on this material. And speaking of such, there will, indeed, be a short quiz tomorrow."

"No—!" "Come on, Sagara-sensei!" "Do we really have to take a quiz?"

"Yes, although I probably would have had you all take one regardless; my guidelines mandate that I have one graded assignment." Sousuke held up his folder briefly. "However, I would not be too concerned. If you have paid attention in class yesterday and continue to do so today, the quiz should be quite simple. This leads me to another compromise I made with the principal."

Several students groaned at the likelihood of hearing more bad news.

"Not only must you pass the quiz, but you must make a 70 or greater mark to be allowed on the field trip. Students that do not pass will have to attend their normal classes on Friday."

"Man! That's so unfair!" "That principal is a witch!"

"Actually, Hidaka, I was surprised with her agreement in several areas, most notably the type of educational materials we will be using. Assuming you all pass the quiz, I will distribute these materials for you to study on Thursday evening so that you are well prepared for Friday."

"'Educational materials?' What kind of trip is this?" "I'm not so sure I want to go anymore."

"One thing I can almost assure you of," said Sousuke in response to the disinterest, "is that you will enjoy the trip. Also, excellent performance on the trip will apply extra credit to your quiz grade."

"Hmm…." Several students sat back in thought. "Well… I do have a pretty bad grade in this class right now."

"That is the spirit. The quiz tomorrow will be in the second period. It will cover all the information up to that point. After the quiz, I will quickly grade them and assign positions of all students who passed."

"Positions?"

"Yes. There will be a large amount of competition on this trip."

"Ohh—!" Most of the students had a renewed interest. Kaede watched as the boy she had seen before said to himself, "I hope I'm on Tokiwa-san's team."

"But that is all regarding the trip for today. We have the war timeline to go over, and we must finish it by the afternoon."

"Ha—i," the students all affirmed him in monotone.

"Now, we already know the political side of the war, and with that as a foundation, we can explore the battles and tactics of each side as a whole. In late 1914…"

Kaname had her head down on her desk. The dark cloud above her hadn't dissipated. _I'm… so… screwed. I can't back out of the bet…how did the trip get approved? I'm sure it's something ridiculous. I'll just have to ask him at lunch._

"Chidori." Sousuke spoke loudly.

Kaname looked up quickly. "Uh… yes?"

"The position in which you choose to learn is your prerogative; however, I must insist that removing the visual element is to your detriment."

Several students chuckled at the way Sousuke had asked her to pay attention.

"Okay, sorry." Kaname opened her notebook and started writing what was on the board. _Sousuke… I'm not going to let you do something stupid on Friday. But if I'm going to keep you in check, I have to pass your stupid quiz._

"Now, the first World War's battles were primarily 'trench warfare.' When the war began, the nations that were initially involved expected swift movement and short battles. This, however, was not to be. Living conditions in the trenches for soldiers was far from satisfactory…"

Sagara continued teaching, with his students having an improved spirit for taking notes.

----

Later that morning, Sousuke was finding it difficult to review for his afternoon lesson. He walked outside and sat on his usual bench, instead studying the make-up material he had collected for his other classes. Suddenly his cell phone vibrated in his pocket.

It was an unknown number, which only meant one thing.

"Sergeant Sagara here."

"Yo. I got 'em all made up."

"Excellent. How do they compare to the real thing?"

"50 on all statistics."

"That's very impressive."

"Agreed. We tested them out on some of the new guys around here. They weren't too happy about that, but it shouldn't cause too much trouble."

"What about the other things?"

"If your specs were right, we've got 'em for everyone."

Sousuke rubbed his chin slowly. "I must admit I'm surprised they allowed you to do this."

"I could say the same to you…. Well, y'know, it was fun for everybody over here. We haven't had much action lately so it was a good way to blow off some stress."

"Right. So, the most important thing is left."

"Yeah. We don't have a secure route yet, and it's been some trouble convincing you-know-who."

"But you've already made them…"

"Yeah, but that's not the only way we can make a convincing argument."

"What are you thinking of doing?"

"…Having you-know-who deliver them in person."

"What?"

"Hey, everybody needs a vacation every once in awhile."

"But it wasn't that long ago that—"

"We're hoping to downplay that."

"Hmm… well, I'll leave it up to you, then."

"Of course. I'll let you know the when, where, and who ASAP."

Sousuke heard the bell ring inside the building. "Ah, it's that time already."

"Go get 'em… _sensei_. Ahahah! Ahah!"

Sousuke ended the call while hysterical laughter was still coming from the other end. "Idiot."

Sagara looked behind him and saw the door open. Kaname was coming out to meet him. He stood up. Before she got far, though, Kaede burst outside and stopped her. They were still too far for Sousuke to hear them entirely, but he could pick out a few words.

"Do I have to?"

"…t are you?"

"…"

"The bet was for the wh…"

"Yeah, I …"

"…ere it is."

"…ow, do th… ke them like this?"

"I made them."

"Oh."

Sousuke walked towards them, having become curious as to what it was.

"Who knows," Kaede said, "maybe Sagara-sensei will like them." With that she ran inside.

"What was that about?"

"Ack! Sousuke," Kaname whirled around, hiding something behind her. "You scared me. I can't… tell you what it's about."

"Still that bet, then. But I'm curious as to what Kaede had given you. She said I might like them."

"Well, I don't think—"

"Perhaps it's the experimental assault rifle by Steyr!"

"…what?"

"No? It could be grenades, but I already have lots of those."

"Of course it's not grenades!"

"Yeah, I suppose not. It's probably a specialized ammunit—"

**Whop!** "It's not anything dangerous!"

"That hurts, Chidori. Well, she did say she made them herself…—Wait, Chidori! Toss it away! It could be a bomb! Kaede has made her move!"

**Whap! **"I told you it's not dangerous! Even _you _couldn't make a bomb out of it."

"…If it's nothing like that, why would she think I'd like them?"

"I don't know, okay? Just leave me alone…" Chidori looked away from him.

Neither of them moved. A few moments later Kaname spoke again.

"You… you wouldn't hate me if I looked different, would you?"

"Hmm…. There are a few things that I would hate. If you looked like a terrorist, for example. Or if you—"

**Whap!** "I'm serious!"

"What? I'm serious too, I would—hmm." Sousuke paused for a moment in thought. "Well, no, your physical appearance would not affect my opinion towards you."

"…your opinion?"

"…my… feelings?"

"…"

Tension filled the air. Sagara felt his blood pressure rising. He could feel his heartbeat in his chest.

"…Well, thanks, Sousuke. I'm… going inside now…."

Sagara let out his breath. "Alright."

"…See you."

"…Yeah."

When Chidori disappeared into the building, Sousuke dropped lifelessly onto a nearby bench and closed his eyes. _I can't keep up with all this. It's too exhausting. Teaching the class… preparing for the trip… watching Kaede… and Chidori is acting strangely again. More than anything, I have to stick to my real mission... Chidori could be in danger at any time._

"Sagara-sensei?" A quiet, beautiful voice beckoned him back to reality.

(to be continued...)


	6. Chapter 6: Kaede the Enemy

FMP Fanfiction

Hitosawagase

by Esoteria

Chapter 6

----

"Sagara-sensei?" A quiet, smooth voice beckoned him back to reality. Sousuke opened his eyes slowly.

"Hmm? Ah!" He sat up quickly. "Excuse me."

"There's no need to apologize to me, Sagara-sensei." Mikihara Ren stood with her hands in front of her as always, and bowed slightly. "The extra work must be hard on you."

"Ah, no, it is quite bearable."

Ren had come through the usual entrance under the covered way. On the other side of this entrance and a fair distance away was the corner where the school building ended and the practice field began. At this corner was Kaede, who was secretly observing the goings on with Sagara, and had just watched Kaname leave before Mikihara arrived. She opened a notebook and scribbled a few things on one page. _Hmm…, _she thought while writing, _Their relationship is very unusual… but interesting. I'll have to study the Sagara and Chidori pairing some more. _She circled what she had just written. _You can do it, Kaede! _ _Only three more weeks to get them together!_

From Kaede's side of the building came a young man—a student—jogging towards her from the far side of the field. When he got a little closer he started speaking loudly, clearly out of breath.

"Kaede-san! Kaede-san!" While Kaede motioned for him to quiet down, he stopped in front of her, panting a few times before continuing. "Kaede-san, thank you so much! I never thought I'd be going out with her. You're the greatest!"

"_Shh!" _Kaede desperately tried to quiet him. The student was out of view from the courtyard, but was loud enough to be heard.

"Really, thank you!" With that he nearly tackled her with a hug, causing them both to stumble into view of Sagara and Mikihara.

"Get down!" Sousuke jumped out of his seat and threw himself in front of Mikihara, pointing his pistol at Kaede and the other student and holding Ren back with the other hand.

The situation unbeknownst to him, the boy bowed once to Kaede and then took off in the other direction.

"Eheh…" Kaede turned slowly towards Sousuke. "Heheh… umm…" She stood still and scratching her head nervously, looking down the barrel of Sagara's pistol a dozen or two meters away, while he stared her down.

A very tense moment passed.

Kaede took off suddenly in the other direction. When Sagara moved to pursue her, Ren touched his arm gently, stopping him.

"Mikihara?" Sousuke looked at her.

"Sagara-sensei, I wouldn't worry too much about Kaede-san."

"But she—"

"She seemed very interested in yourself and Chidori-san."

"…Yes, that's what troubles me. She could be planning an ambush of some—"

Mikihara giggled quietly, to which Sousuke lowered his weapon and looked at her with more confusion.

"Sagara-sensei, you might be partly right about that. But, I don't think it's the kind of ambush you're used to dealing with that she is preparing."

"…I don't understand."

"Hmm… perhaps I shouldn't say too much."

Sousuke replaced the sidearm at his belt and sat back down heavily onto the bench, thinking.

"Please, Mikihara. Kaede has been a subject of considerable stress these last two days."

Ren slowly walked past him and sat on the other side of the bench, placing both hands on her lap.

"Kaede-san is very interested in the both of you, but for a different reason."

"A different reason?"

"You are a very observant person, Sagara-sensei. Perhaps you have noticed something about her regarding your students?"

"Hmm… you are right, she seems to have an unusual ability to set my colleagues off guard. She raises an amazing amount of apprehension from some of them."

"Why do you think that is?"

"She probably has some sort of information about them."

"Mmm…" Ren nodded.

"Is she blackmailing classmates? I have to stop this!" Sousuke reached for his gun while starting to stand up again before Mikihara touched his shoulder. Sagara sat back down.

"No, Sagara-sensei, it isn't blackmail, exactly."

"It isn't? Hmm… what then? Although, I did use a similar tactic once when confronting a gang who had captured Chidori. They were quickly scared away as soon as I threatened to hurt something they loved—"

"That!"

"That?"

"Love."

"…" Sagara sat silent for a moment, concentrating. "…I still don't understand," he said finally, defeated.

"That is the kind of information she has."

Sousuke put one hand on his chin, rubbing slowly while he concentrated.

"So… her tactical ability is seeing the inward desires of people…."

"…Um… something like that."

"…It is worse than I feared. I have no way to combat such a skill."

Ren looked over at Sousuke, who was still deep in thought.

"Why do you believe you need to fight it?"

"Well, that's because…," Sagara paused for a moment. "Actually, I don't know."

"Could it be something that you don't want her to see in you?"

Sousuke froze. "…It appears Kaede is not the only one with skills I am vulnerable to."

Mikihara smiled gently. "I don't know if I'm helping you or making things worse."

"No, you're right. Thank you, Mikihara. I should return to my work."

The two stood up. Ren bowed slowly. "Good luck, Sagara-sensei."

Sousuke stopped walking in mid stride. "…'Sagara-sensei.' There's something very strange about that."

Sousuke nodded to her quickly and continued to walk inside.

"Ah! Sagara-sensei, I forgot something."

He stopped and turned back around. Ren hurried to catch up with him before speaking again.

"I forgot the real reason I came to talk to you. Senpai and I were asked by the principal to accompany you on your trip Friday. Would this be inconvenient?"

"Not at all. Would the two of you like to participate?"

"Participate? The principal didn't say anything about what you planned to do with the class."

Sagara removed his cell phone and looked at the time.

"It appears I have enough time to explain briefly, however, I would like the information I am about to divulge to remain confidential for now."

"Of course."

"Here is my tactical analysis." Sousuke took a sheet of paper that looked like a map out of his bag.

----

Inside, Kaede finally stopped running. She slid to a halt in the hall and put her hands on her knees to recover. "He's going to kill me! I know it!"

"Are you referring to Sagara-san?" Atsunobu appeared from another corridor. The busy halls were just quiet enough that she could hear him. "Actually," the tall student said, "I think I am supposed to refer to him as Sagara-sensei."

"Ah! I saw you with Mikihara-san!" Kaede straightened up and bowed.

"Most polite, I see." Hayashimizu bowed in response. "I am the student council president, Hayashimizu Atsunobu. A pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, I'm…"

"You don't have to introduce yourself. I have heard about your request."

"Thank you, senpai. Actually, I do have a question."

"I will assist in any way I can."

"I was wondering why everyone is so informal with Sagara-sensei. He seems like a very serious person, especially about his teaching, but everyone is laid back when they talk to him."

"Ah." In a swift movement of his hand, Atsunobu unfolded a fan in front of his face, on which was the word _Hitosawagase_. "This is how the students here view Sagara-sensei."

"Always causing trouble? Why?"

Hayashimizu folded the fan closed with a snap. "Sagara-sensei is misunderstood. He often takes the necessary precautions in certain events, but those precautions backfire just as often. As a result, both meanings of the word apply to him."

"…Is that why he pointed a gun at me when we first met?"

"Most likely," he said without hesitation

"But is it really okay for Chidori-san to call him Sousuke?"

"Why would that be a problem? They are very close."

"…Oh…."

"In any case, I am searching for Mikihara-kun. Have you seen her?"

"She was outside talking to Sagara-sensei."

"As I thought…"

"Do you know what they are talking about?"

----

"So that is what I intend to do." Sousuke opened his bag and inserted the map.

"That is a very elaborate plan, Sagara-sensei. You must have put a very large amount of work into it."

"Well, as I mentioned, I have several colleagues who are helping me with the more time consuming parts. But will you and the president be participating?"

"Oh, we wouldn't want to trouble you…"

"It is no trouble. I can have the necessary materials prepared before the others are delivered this evening."

"Hmm…"

"I would very much like the two of you to participate. For this type of activity, more participants would likely produce a better result. Also, the president is very knowledgeable, and you must be quite experienced with some of this material from your family's work."

"Well, I actually haven't—"

"I will determine which groups would benefit most from an extra member."

"Oh… actually Sagara-sensei…"

Sousuke looked up at Ren, who was standing a little more stiffly than usual.

"Ah," Sousuke spoke while checking the time on his phone again. "Of course you would like to be in the same group. That will not be a problem."

"…Thank you, Sagara-sensei."

"I am short on time. Thank you for your advice regarding Kaede." Sousuke turned quickly and jogged to the door. Mikihara bowed again slightly before turning around.

"Senpai!" Ren saw that Atsunobu stood at the other door.

----

Sousuke ran into Shinji on the way back to his office. "Kazama. I am glad you are here."

"Sagara-san, you are a very good teacher." Shinji bowed immediately, without rising back up

"Uhh… Kazama… this is a little uncomfortable."

"It's true! I've learned so much, so fast. It's amazing."

"No, I really—"

"Don't you know how to accept a compliment, Sousuke?" Kaname brandished her harisen at him when he looked back at her.

"Chidori. Excellent, I also needed to talk to you."

"What is this about, Sagara-san?" Kazama finally stood up from his bow.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Kaname asked.

"I will make this as brief as possible. I need the both of you to do very well on the quiz tomorrow."

"Huh?" Chidori looked confused.

"Why us, Sagara-sensei?" Kazama asked.

"The both of you are the most fit to take two roles in the groups on Friday."

"The groups?" Kazama started looking a bit excited.

"Yes. I will announce this afternoon that those who do the best on the quiz will be selected for these roles."

"Wait a minute, Sousuke," Kaname stopped him. "You can't tell us anything about the quiz that you don't tell the rest of the class, or we'd be cheating."

"I haven't said anything that I won't tell them."

"Sagara-sensei," Kazama said, "What if we get all the questions right, but so do other people in the class? Wouldn't it be obvious that you chose us out of all the people that did well?"

"I ask you to leave that to me. As long as you are well prepared for the quiz, everything else should fall into place."

"Well you don't have to worry about me," Kaname said, sounding a little annoyed. "I need good grades in that class anyway. But you'd better not be planning anything dangerous."

"I do not expect significant casualties."

**Wham!** Kaname nailed him at full force.

Further down the hall, Kaede was walking when she noticed Sagara being hit with a fan. He spun several times before collapsing to the ground. _Wow… they really are close, I guess._ Kaede couldn't tell what Chidori was yelling at him about, but she found herself feeling just a little jealous. _Even if he makes a lot of mistakes and points guns at people… I'd still like to have someone like you do, Chidori-san…._ When she started feeling the dull pang of loneliness she shook her head and entered the classroom.

Most of the students had already returned, and were chatting in various groups. Kaede sat down and opened her book.

Sousuke entered, still looking somewhat awkward in his attire. Shinji and Kaname filed in after him and took their seats. As this happened, one male student, who had his back turned to the front, said quite audibly, "I know! If it's going to be on campus it's not even a field trip at all!"

The room went silent, as everyone looked to see how Sousuke would respond. The boy turned around when he realized what had happened and apologized. "Uhh… sorry, please don't shoot me or anything."

Sagara paused, seemingly unaware of the attention being paid to him at the moment. After a few seconds he simply picked up a piece of chalk and started writing on the board again. The uncomfortable air didn't fade for some time while the rest of the students hesitantly took their seats.

After finishing whatever he had written, Sousuke put down the chalk and addressed the class.

"I would again like to mention that I am available for any support, re-supply, or reinf—ugh." Sagara scratched his head, and then continued. "Well, I can answer questions or concerns in the office."

Another uncomfortable moment passed. Finally, Sagara straightened up. "I am sure you all do not need a reminder of the quiz tomorrow. Having said that, I have one more announcement: Those students that score the highest on tomorrow's quiz will be offered a special position for tomorrow's trip."

Kazama and Chidori looked at each other briefly. The rest of the class broke into chatter again before one student asked, "What kind of special position?"

Sousuke responded, "All will be revealed tomorrow in the second session. For now, please look forward to it. Now, to continue the instruction from this morning…."

(to be continued...)


	7. Chapter 7: Kaname no Hougyo

FMP Fanfiction

Hitosawagase

by Esoteria

Chapter 7

----

On Thursday morning, Sousuke was in the teacher's office, talking on his cell phone. "So you have the materials ready for shipment?"

"Yeah, don't sweat it. They'll be in the place we talked about before at noon."

"Excellent. Did you manage the two extra sets?"

"The clothes were cake, but the other gear wasn't fully tested."

"I see…"

Sousuke had begun writing on a legal pad when he heard a commotion starting outside.

"So cute!" came an excited female voice.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day…," came a male's.

"So _that_ was the bet…."

"They're pretty realistic!"

Sousuke heard the voices getting louder as the mob apparently came towards the door.

"Chidori-sa—n!" Sousuke heard her name and froze, listening carefully.

"Chidori-san!" It was a male voice. "Please say 'Nyaaa—n' for us!" Sousuke furrowed his eyebrows. _What does _that _mean?_

"SHUT UP!" **SMACK!** Sagara heard a loud noise and looked towards the door. A moment passed, and he was just shrugging and returning to his conversation when he saw, flying by the window, a dark blur which was a student in uniform, followed by a stream of blood.

"Just leave me alone, you jerks!" Kaname yelled loudly. "And stop getting nosebleeds!" Sousuke immediately went back to his work.

The voice on the phone spoke. "Heheh… I guess that means our conversation's over."

"Yeah. At noon then." Sousuke snapped the phone closed and returned it to his pocket. He looked around briefly, noticing that most of the teachers had already gone. Looking down at the legal pad, he took a full breath and released it slowly. _I've got to finish this quiz, but this last question… how should I phrase it?_

The door opened, and Sousuke heard loud uproar for a moment before it shut again, all but silencing the noise.

"It's worse than I thought…" Kaname panted while leaning against the wall, her fan still in hand.

Sagara was still looking at the legal pad.

"Sousuke…, aren't you even going to ask what happened?"

Still writing, he responded in monotone, "Apparently something to do with the bet. A kidnapping would not be possible in such a public place, so I was not concerned for your safety. However, I suppose I could wonder why you had several dozen students behind you."

Chidori growled, and then stood up, saying "If you would just look you'd understand!"

After apparently finishing what he was writing and clicking his retractable pen, Sagara looked up.

There stood Kaname, in her normal uniform, but with a pair of white and pink cat's ears on her head. She was red from embarrassment, which didn't put her appearance in her own favor.

Sousuke stared, looking quite confused and generally removed from reality.

"Yeah… Kaede made them. She even made it so the headband doesn't show." Kaname sighed pathetically and hung her head. "I have to wear it all day, too."

Sagara was still staring when Chidori looked up again. Sousuke blinked a few times, then drew up one hand to his face, touching his index finger to his upper lip at one nostril.

He withdrew it and looked at the small amount of blood on his fingertip. "Hmm… that's odd."

"Not you, too…"

"This is an interesting phenomenon. But disregarding that, for you to accept a bet with this magnitude of consequence…"

"Yeah, that's what I came in here to talk to you about."

"How does this involve me? Do you need protection while wearing that accessory?"

"No… it's about what we bet on."

"I suppose you're allowed to tell me now."

"Actually… I didn't tell you before because I didn't want to hurt your feelings, but…."

"But?"

"But now I think I have to tell you. The bet was whether your field trip would get approved."

Sagara sat still in his chair. Kaname was unable to judge his reaction. "And… I bet against you…. I'm sorry…."

Sousuke still didn't move for several seconds. Chidori held her breath as the level of impact this might have had was dawning on her.

Kaname's eyes started to burn a little, she felt tears coming on. _This was such a stupid bet…. It's my fault, I never should've bet against him. I deserve this…,_ she thought.

Sousuke got up and checked the time on his phone.

"Class will begin shortly," he said dryly, and then walked past her and out the door, leaving Kaname alone in the teacher's office.

When the door clicked closed, she jerked involuntarily. It was like a subtle blow directly to her heart. She felt ridiculous, standing in the office by herself wearing the nekomimi. The lump in her throat was half self-pity and half self-hatred.

Kaname bit her lip and opened the door to greet the coming day of misery.

----

When the door opened in the classroom, all the students went silent and looked to see who had arrived.

It seemed that Sousuke was not the person they were looking for, as chatter revived a few moments after he walked in. Sagara walked to the corner next to the window and began opening a large box. None of the students noticed, as they were staring at one of the two entrances.

When the bell rung, the class slowly made it to their seats, most of them not taking their eyes from the doors.

"Class. Please look this way." Sousuke didn't appear to be in a great mood. The students responded to the unusual tone by paying him most of their attention.

"As I mentioned before, the quiz will be given in the afternoon, after which assignments and materials for tomorrow's outing will be distributed."

The back door slid open slowly, and the whole class redirected their attention once more.

Kaname slipped in quietly, looking down at the floor, and walked toward her seat.

"Chidori," Sousuke spoke authoritatively. "You are late. Please take your seat immediately."

As she did so, stifled giggles and whispers could be heard in various parts of the room.

Sousuke found himself almost smiling at her misfortune. In reality, it had been a shock and an incredible insult to hear what Kaname had told him a few minutes earlier. It hurt even more when he thought about how good he had felt hearing her say "We could go to the principal and…." He had felt like even if this was going to be a huge task, at least Kaname was with him. Now he realized that was all feigned.

When Chidori glanced up at him momentarily, Sousuke saw the redness in her brown eyes. It hit him like a brick in the face. _What right do I have to judge her? Who deserves to have this kind of punishment? I should be trying to protect her, not watch her suffer. It's my mission—no, it's my desire to keep her safe from all kinds of harm… this is no different._ Sousuke took a few steps back to the blackboard and found himself looking down at the box behind the desk that he had opened just a moment ago. _It wasn't that long ago that I made my own stupid bet, and lost. Did Chidori stand by and laugh at me? No, she bailed me out…._

Sousuke bent down and began doing something with an object in the box. The class didn't notice, as most of them were still turned to Kaname, who had her head buried in her arms on the desk, the cat's ears poking out of her hair.

"Class!" Sousuke demanded with the voice of a drill instructor. Each student immediately turned to the front and straightened their backs. "I see there is something diverting your attention. I will remove the problem."

The class sat stiffly, watching Sagara emerge from behind the desk with a long rifle with a wooden stock. Everyone watched silently as he marched with a grim face to the back of the room where Chidori sat, holding the rifle at his hip with one hand.

When she felt him standing over her, Kaname dared not look up. Tears were really welling up now. _What are you doing, Sousuke? Do you hate me that much?_

"Chidori." He was still speaking loudly. "Please give me the source of this disturbance."

Kaname looked up at him, looking quite scared and confused. She swallowed hard with him staring down at her.

"Then I will remove it myself." Sousuke squatted down next to Kaname, who was squeezing her eyes closed in apprehension.

Chidori felt a hand gently brush by her cheek and the head band slip off easily. When she opened her eyes in surprise she felt Sousuke's mouth close to her ear. _"I'm sorry."_ He whispered, and stood up quickly.

As Sagara walked towards the front of the room, Kaname dried her eyes and looked around in bewilderment. Apparently the class had not noticed him whispering to her. His face had returned to one of irritation, and all the students fixed their eyes on him in silence as he carried the rifle and headband to the far window.

Sousuke slid the window open and took a step back. He then threw the headband at full force like a Frisbee and skillfully placed the rifle stock at his shoulder, taking aim while the students rushed to the windows to see what would become of the flying ornament.

----

In the next room, students were still chatting about the girl wearing cat ears this morning while the instructor was writing notes on the board.

**Blam!**

The piece of chalk snapped in half, and dropped to the floor. A few gasps were the only thing breaking the silence as the students and instructor went rigid.

----

Kagurazaka's class covered their ears after Sousuke fired, the dry, very loud sound resonating through the room. The ringing echo of an empty cartridge hitting the floor was heard.

The headband was shot exactly in half, and the class watched the two separate ears spiral to the grass in the courtyard.

"Nooo—!" Kaede suddenly wailed in horror before covering her mouth with both hands.

Sousuke expertly pulled back the bolt action and reset it, and then let the rifle fall back to his hip, held in one hand.

"The 7.98 millimeter Mauser Gewehr 98." Sagara walked back in front of the chalk board. His voice had completely changed, back to the serious but amicable tone he had used in days past.

A wave of relief seemed to pour over the room as students returned to their seats once again and prepared to take notes. All except for Kaede, who still stood at the window with rivers of tears flowing down her face as she looked at her destroyed accessory.

Sousuke caught Kaname's eye briefly, and saw her biting her lip while she looked back at him. The redness in her eyes was already fading.

"This German rifle was the single most accurate infantry weapon mankind had ever produced at the time. The Mauser would go on to be used again in World War II, with few improvements left to be made. The Gewehr 98 is a bolt-action weapon, meaning several seconds were spent after each shot for reloading the chamber. The Mauser did have a detachable, top loading clip for five rounds, further increasing its reliability and effectiveness."

Sousuke unloaded the weapon in front of the class and removed the chambered bullet.

"The weapon is now harmless, and can be passed around the room. Although there is no ammunition, the weapon still should not be pointed at a classmate."

To Kaname's surprise, the class seemed genuinely interested in inspecting the rifle Sagara had just described.

Kaede was only just now returning to her seat, still beaten with sorrow. _Why_—_? I spent so much time on those, Sagara-sensei… why…? _She sat down heavily and rested her head on her arms, crossed on the desk. _Not only that, but now my plan is ruined! I was going to let her suffer in the morning, and then tell her I would let her take the ears off if she would confess to Sagara-sensei… but now I have no advantage!_

"As we have already discussed, the rifle was still the most common weapon in the First World War. Its portability and relatively light weight was advantageous."

Sousuke bent down and removed another weapon from the box.

"If the Mauser was superior in accuracy, this weapon was superior in rate of fire." The rifle thumped heavily on the desk. "The Lee-Enfield 0.303-inch rifle had a ten round magazine, or essentially two magazines similar to the five-round one currently circulating the room. Apart from a larger magazine, the Lee-Enfield could be fired much faster: a rate of one round per five seconds was more than enough time for any decent soldier to aim his next shot. The Lee-Enfield, like the Mauser, was so expertly designed that it also was used in World War II with few modifications."

Sagara continued his lesson on the weapons, at one point pulling out a huge apparatus that was a machine gun and asking if the class would like him to pass it around, to which they all shook their heads violently. Sousuke passed around the long chain of bullets instead. Kaede sulked pretty much the entire lesson, and Kaname took notes slowly, in bewilderment occasionally at what had happened at the beginning of class. Kazama's eyes sparkled for the entirety of the period, and the student behind him had to tap him on the shoulder to get him to pass back whichever weapon he was looking at. He had taken so long looking at the Mauser that a queue of other weapons had accumulated on his desk before he finally surrendered the rifle to the next student.

"And the last grenade I will show: the Mills bomb. This was by far the most popular and recognizable grenade from the war. When the British finally realized that machine guns and grenades were going to be much more effective than infantry rushes and exchanging rifle shots from trenches, a brilliant developer, William Mills, created this weapon. It was probably the first to have a serrated exterior, which caused it to break into many fragments upon explosion. This tremendously increased the effective range of the grenade upon detonation. Some soldiers could be killed at a distance of twenty meters or more if they were unlucky enough to lie in the path of one of these fragments. Despite the generally inhumane nature of grenades or any other weapon of war, this grenade ultimately helped turn the war in the Allied Forces'—and later Japan's—favor." The bell rung just as Sousuke handed the dismantled grenade to a student on the first row. "Well then, that is the end of my lesson. I will see you all in the afternoon. Please be prepared for the quiz."

The class stood and began walking to the door, some of them carrying a weapon to the front to return it to Sagara. Kazama was the last to arrive at the front, gazing at the pistol in his hands.

"Sagara-sensei, this one looks a lot like the pistol you use." He handed the weapon to Sousuke.

Sagara immediately dismantled the weapon by hand in a matter of seconds and laid the parts out on the table. "Yes, the American Colt automatic was a well-designed weapon, and could be considered a primary template for pistols commonly used today, such as mine. This is, of course, an old weapon. It is rare that we even get to see—much less hold and examine—something of this age."

"I really liked today's lesson, Sagara-sensei."

"I'm glad to hear that, Kazama. The class appeared to share your sentiment, much to my surprise. I had been concerned that they would lose interest due to the technicalities."

"It's because you taught the history so well…."

Sousuke scratched his head in embarrassment. "Well, it most probably is due to the material I am teaching. I do not perform well enough in other areas to teach them, so it was fortunate I was assigned this."

Detecting his discomfort, Kazama bowed and walked out. Sagara was packing the weapons back into the box when he noticed someone standing behind him….

----

Kaede was pacing back and forth in the hall, rubbing her forehead in deep thought. _Blast, Sagara-sensei! You're making this too difficult! _She put her bag on the floor and opened it, temporarily discarding the two romance novels that lay on the top. Finding her notebook, she sat down against the wall and began leafing through the pages. _This's truly a unique situation. None of my normal, subtle tactics are gonna work with these two. Well, if that's the case…we'll just do something a little more elaborate._ Kaede grinned while writing furiously on the paper. Several students stared at her in confusion when they passed her in the hall.

Kaede thought she heard voices coming from the classroom, so she stood up and moved closer to the door, pressed against the wall. When she approached the doorway, she heard Sousuke struggling to speak.

"Err… that was…."

"Thank you, Sousuke. I'm sorry for what I did to you." Kaede heard Kaname's voice clearly. She began conjuring an image of what was happening in her mind.

_Kaname must be moving close to him now… she'll put her hands and cheek against his chest… he'll wrap her arms around her, and—_

Sousuke forced some words out. "It was… inconvenient… for you to be wearing that accessory…. That is… it made it more difficult… to protect you with all those students around… and… yeah. I need to work on this afternoon's lessons. See you."

When Chidori started to protest, Kaede heard Sousuke's footsteps coming to the door. She staggered quickly back to her bag and sat back down, pretending to have been writing the whole time. When Sagara emerged, Kaede watched him stop just outside the doorway and look at the ceiling. He breathed a full breath and let it out, and then noticed Kaede sitting there. He gave her a suspicious look, and then began walking towards her. When he passed by he spoke quietly, "I'm onto you…."

When he disappeared into the teacher's office, Kaede finally started breathing again. _But still… "difficult to protect you...," that's so romantic! …In a weird sort of way. Now…_. She twirled her pen over each finger before starting to write again. _Monday: Sagara x Chidori, 3rd attempt: 2nd attempt failed. Sagara-sensei destroyed the nekomimi in front of the class. While my original plan fell apart, there has been some progress. The scene in the classroom today would not have happened otherwise. For the next plan, I will find out from another classmate exactly wher_—. The bell rung.

"Cra—p!" Kaede took off down the hall. "I'm late!"

(to be continued...)


	8. Chapter 8: Intruders in Uniform

FMP Fanfiction

Hitosawagase

by Esoteria

_Author's Note: I expect that it is implied, but such things need to be said anyway: I very much appreciate all the reviews and feedback I've gotten so far. This story, like Wo Futari De, has already received considerably more hits and reviews than I could've expected. A heartfelt 'thank you' to all my readers. _

Chapter 8

----

Sousuke walked behind the school building, checking the time on his phone. _It should've arrived by now, but I didn't hear anything. I should check anyway._ When he began walking into the partially wooded area at the edge of campus, he immediately noticed something was wrong.

_There are too many people on the other side. There are two—no, three. At most it should be only one. Something's going on. Could this be a trap? A diversion to keep me at a distance while Chidori, the real target, is about to be captured? Is this what Kaede was really after? _Sousuke removed his pistol and began moving silently towards the disturbance. _Argh! I'm so noticeable in these clothes! At least my normal uniform would have lent me some level of invisibility._

As he neared the source of his concern, he heard the quiet rustling of leaves. _They're not even trying to hide their presence… what is going on here?_ Sousuke pressed his back against a tree that stood between him and the intruders, he having seen an unusually bright color through the foliage. Chambering a bullet, he took a deep breath and got ready to jump out.

"Sousuke! What are you doing, you idiot?"

Sagara recognized the voice. "Kurz? Who is with you?"

"Why don't you quit hiding and look?"

Sousuke thought, _Kurz could have been captured, and they're forcing him to speak this way... _Jumping out suddenly, he quickly aimed his firearm at the group.

"Sergeant Sagara, please lower your weapon," a rather high pitched voice requested slowly.

"Geh—Captain!" Sousuke dropped his left arm to his waist and saluted with the right, hesitating before replacing his pistol behind his back with the free arm.

There was Kurz, leaning against a tree, a big grin on his face. Next to him was Tessa.

"Man, Sousuke, you've got to get some better looking clothes than that." Melissa Mao was sitting on the boxes of supplies they had brought. "You don't look like a teacher… you look like a military idiot who got stuck with a substitute teaching job."

"I'm sure he appreciates the vote of confidence, Nee-san." Kurz and the others were in uniform, which made their appearance in this secluded area behind the school even more unbelievable.

"At ease, Sergeant." Tessa smiled at Sousuke, who moved to a parade rest position, still staring past them. "At _ease_, Sagara-san."

"Sir!" Sousuke put his hands in his pockets, which didn't make him look any more comfortable. "Uh… may I ask what's going on?"

"Ah, Sousuke, you know these higher-ups," Kurz said regarding Mao and Testarossa's rank, "They'll make any excuse to go on a vacation."

"Weber-san!" Tessa threw him a dirty look.

"A vacation?" Sousuke finally started speaking in a normal manner.

"Yes," Tessa said, "but never mind that, you don't have long before your afternoon class, right?"

"Uh… yeah… I mean, yes ma'am!" Sagara pulled out his cell phone to check the time again.

Tessa stifled her giggling after a moment. "You're so cute, Sagara-san! I wish I could see you lecturing everyone!"

"Details, details!" Kurz picked up one of the boxes and started walking toward the school. Mao followed suit, and Tessa looked at the remaining large box with some uncertainty.

When she bent down to attempt to lift it, Sousuke stopped her. "Captain… please let me get that. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to hear the whole story on our way…."

After they had crossed the field, Kurz managed to get his box up on a shoulder to open the door to the school.

"So you're taking a short vacation while TDD-1 is undergoing inspection?" Sousuke recapped.

"Seems like just yesterday they were making the same excuse, huh?" Melissa held the door open with her foot while Tessa passed through, followed by Sagara.

"And you decided to participate in the field trip tomorrow." Sousuke reset his grip on the box which was starting to hurt his back.

"Lift with the legs, Sousuke, the legs!" Kurz seemed to have a much lighter box as he was now walking backwards with it still on his shoulder while instructing Sousuke.

"Well, we didn't think you would have a problem with it, since we did fund the production of all this equipment." Tessa sounded a little upset.

"I didn't really mean…" Sousuke started to sweat slightly.

"Anyway," Melissa jogged to catch up to them. "We've got all the arrangements made on our end; you just worry about your class, Sousuke. I'm sure they're plenty to handle on their own."

"Hmm, you are right, Urzu 2. There is one student in particular who is cause for concern."

"You must be talking about Kaede-san?" Tessa's shoes echoed through the halls, which were mostly empty at this time of day.

"How did you know about her, Captain?" Sousuke seemed very surprised.

"I think the work load is getting to him." Kurz interjected another needless statement when they started walking up the stairs.

"Serge—excuse me, Sagara-sensei, " Tessa giggled briefly, "I'm sure you didn't think that someone with such an unusual background would be going to Jindai without our knowledge?"

"Ah, of course not. My apologies."

"They are not necessary, Sensei." Tessa seemed a little too amused by the whole thing.

"I do have one other question."

"Anybody want to take bets on what it is?" Melissa asked sarcastically.

"Bets…" Sousuke stopped walking for a moment. "Never mind. How are you going to convince the principal to let you participate? Oh, it's this one." Sousuke walked into the empty classroom he had just motioned to with his head, followed by the others, who looked around the room: possibly just examining Sousuke's work environment, or more likely checking for any security faults or bugs.

Tessa started walking to the desk where she had sat while a "student" in the school. "Oh, the principal? That matter has already been taken care of."

----

The principal sat in her large chair, pointed to the window, holding a check at arm's length. "I can't believe it worked this well… and all I had to do was approve a field trip." She started laughing maniacally for a moment before stopping herself abruptly and returning to work.

----

"Do the three of you intend to stay here for the afternoon class?" Sousuke handed Kurz the box of weapons that he had shown that morning.

"Nah, we've got all kinds of paperwork to do. We're not technically on vacation until tomorrow, as you can see." Kurz looked at Mao's chest, referring to her uniform, but his underlying intent was immediately noticed.

**Bam!** Melissa hit him square in the jaw. After several rotations, Kurz began to fall forward towards Tessa, who sidestepped calmly.

Kurz's body made a loud noise when it hit the floor. From somewhere down the hall, the four heard a student say "What was that?"

Another responded, "Do you think Sagara-sensei is unpacking more weapons or something?"

"Shh! He'll hear you?"

"_Crap!_" Mao whispered.

Kurz spoke to Sousuke from the floor. "I see your reputation already precedes you."

"_Shut up, Kurz!_" Mao was whispering quickly. "_Sousuke, we weren't allowed to be in the school building. We've got to get out of here._"

"Understood, I will secure your escape." Sousuke reached behind his back, removed a smoke grenade, pulled out the pin with his teeth, and threw back his arm to lob the grenade toward the door.

**Smack!** Mao slapped him in the back of the head. She bent down to pick up the pin which had dropped to the floor.

"That hurt, Chidori." Sousuke rubbed the back of his head.

"_Quiet! She's not here, so I have to do it for her. Now put this pin back in and help us get out through the window!_"

"_Melissa-san!_" Tessa looked very worried as she whispered. "_We're not really going to..._"

"_Do you want them to find us and ruin our vacation, Tessa?_" Kurz was finally keeping his tone down while he began forcing the window open.

"_Hey,_" Mao snapped, "_You're in uniform!_"

"_Do we really have time to worry about whether I call her 'Captain?'_ _Never mind, I'm going! See you tomorrow, Sousuke!_" Kurz dove through the window and performed a clean shoulder roll on the ground one floor below.

"_Yeah, good luck!_" Melissa followed, opting for a different form of escape. She planted her left hand on the window sill and pivoted on it when she hopped over the right side, falling to an easy landing on her feet.

Tessa stood near the window, looking back and forth between it and Sousuke, who could do nothing but hang his head. "Somehow I know they did this on purpose."

"_What, Sagara-san? Well, no, never mind... how am I supposed to...? Can't I hide somewhere?_" Tessa was nervously fiddling with her braided hair, and biting her lower lip.

The voices were clearly a few feet away from the door.

"_Captain! There's nowhere to hide here! Go! Go!_"

"I can't believe he shot them, though! It was kind of weird… it almost seemed like he wasn't mad at her." A female student was walking down the hall with Kaede.

"Hmm… I wonder about that." Kaede looked up at the ceiling and smiled.

"…You know something, don't you? Mysterious Kaede-san."

Kaede could do little other than scratch her head and laugh nervously.

"Know something about what?" Chidori had just walked up the steps and heard them talking.

"Ack! Chidori-san… uhh…."

She passed the two of them without any particular expression on her face. "Sorry about the cat ears, Kaede-san." It was sort of an afterthought. Kaname rounded the corner to the classroom, and then suddenly froze at the doorway.

"What is it, Chidori-san?" Kaede watched her do a double take to whatever was inside.

Her eyebrows twitched several times. "Sousuke…" she growled.

Inside stood Sousuke, with his hands on the backside of Tessa, who was crawling out of the window, clearly unwilling to make the jump to Kurz and Melissa standing below.

"Chidori… this is… uh…" Sousuke started sweating profusely.

"You…!" Kaname stormed across the room and performed a quick 360-degree turn before smacking Sousuke with the fan, sending him face first into the chalk board.

"Aiiii!" Tessa fell from the window.

"You idiot!" Chidori yelled at him, now lying on the floor behind the desk.

Several students had gathered at the doors, staring in confusion at Kaname, the class representative, reprimanding Sousuke, the substitute teacher.

"This is like the exact opposite of this morning, isn't it?" One asked.

"It'd be like normal, except he didn't blow anything up this time."

"True, but that was a pretty cool move she did."

"Oh yeah, look at all those boxes. Are those the 'educational materials' he keeps talking about?"

Kaname turned her fury to the doors. "Quit standing around there and get to your seats!"

The small mob of students recoiled and took several steps back.

"Umm… I actually need to go to the bathroom before the next lesson…."

"I'll come with you…."

"I, uh… forgot… uh… yeah." Most of them took off down the hall.

Kaede was the only student to dare walk in. "Are you okay, Sagara-sensei? I'm sorry you didn't like the cat ears."

Sousuke sat up on the floor and looked back at her. "Ah… forgive me for destroying them, but they were indeed a distraction and had to be dealt with accordingly."

"Oh, that's okay," Kaede said quietly, and looked over at Kaname. "Why are you blushing, Chidori-san?" She looked behind her at the now empty doors before whispering "_Are you happy that Sagara-sensei was the one to take them off?_"

"Shut up!" Kaname stomped over to her seat and sat down roughly.

Sousuke collected himself and began moving the boxes. Kaede took her seat as well and the three remained mostly silent for the next several minutes while the rest of the students slowly filtered in.

When the bell rung, Sousuke immediately began talking and picked up a stack of papers. "Disregarding the incident a moment ago, I would like to begin the quiz immediately, as we have many matters to address this afternoon. I am pleased that there were no absences this week, and so everyone here will be eligible to participate tomorrow if they pass this quiz. You may begin as soon as you receive your copy."

Sousuke unloaded a few pages at a time from the stack and placed them on the students' desks in the front. Kaname found herself staring at Sagara, who was more and more beginning to look like he fit the clothes he was wearing. _That idiot never ceases to surprise me,_ she thought.

The students wrote the answers to the questions quickly, but everyone seemed to be stuck on the last question:

_Bonus Question (1 point):  
What is the primary Soviet-made Arm Slave used by non-government-commissioned organizations, including those of terrorists?_

A few mutters came from several students. Some gave up immediately and sat back in their chairs. Others stared blankly at the question.

Kaname was sure she had gotten all the other questions right. When she arrived at the bonus question, she was angry. _What kind of crap is he putting on this quiz? This doesn't have anything to do with World War I! The only person other than me who would even have a chance of getting this question right is—_And then it hit her. _...is Shinji..._

She found herself almost grinning when she realized it. _So _that's_ how you were going to make us score better. And with a question worth only one point, no one would complain. That's brilliant! ...For an idiot like him._

Kazama looked up at Sagara, who was scanning the room when he made eye contact. Shinji's eyes were lit up like a Christmas tree, and he joyfully wrote the answer to the final question before putting down his pencil.

"If you are all finished, please pass your quizzes to the front, where I will collect them." Sagara paced down the aisles while the last few students, defeated, left the last question blank and passed their quiz in.

When Sousuke had seen that all the desks were empty again, he said, "I will now quickly grade the quizzes. In the meantime, please keep any verbal communication at an intermediate level of volume." He sat down at the front desk and began checking off answers as he went through the quizzes.

Once the students had stared in confusion at Sagara due to his strange sentence, one asked, "Sagara-sensei, what about the bonus question?"

Sousuke didn't look up. "Yamagishi: Pass." He moved one paper to the side. "What about it?"

Another student responded, "What was the answer?"

"Tokiwa: Pass. The answer to the bonus question was the RK-92 Savage. The A.S. is most commonly found in use in the Middle East, China, and North Korea."

The first student spoke again, "But what does that have to do with World War I?"

"Takahashi: Pass." Sousuke finally looked up from his papers and at the student. "Nothing at all." He then continued grading.

Several students laughed softly, while the original student sat baffled by Sousuke's answer.

"Chidori: Pass." Sousuke put Kaname's quiz in a new stack aside the other two. A few students seemed to notice this and looked at Kaname inquisitively. Chidori played dumb and raised her eyebrows at those looking at her. "Hmm?"

Sousuke continued. "With ten questions and a bonus question worth one point, each normal question is worth ten points, which, of course, is a single letter grade per question. Therefore the point from the bonus question could not alter your letter grade. If you do wish to dispute its relevance, which I do not pretend exists, you should seek the Student Council for liaison. Midorikawa: Pass."

A girl on the back row said, "It was a really easy quiz anyway. An easy 100, so why are we worried about the bonus question?" All the students nodded or otherwise agreed to this point, including the students who asked the questions. Kaname couldn't help but shake her head and smile. _It wasn't that long ago, Sousuke, that you wouldn't have known how to talk to these people without mentioning some experimental super-weapon. Now you're reading them like an open book. You knew exactly what would happen with that question, didn't you?_

"Well, I got it right…." Kazama made the mistake of mentioning it. Even Sousuke looked up from his paper momentarily.

A moment of uncomfortable silence passed, with Shinji the target of a few dozen attentions.

"Well, yeah?" One female student said sarcastically at last. Most of the others rolled their eyes and looked back to the front.

Sousuke had called several people's names during the discussion, but no one had paid him any mind because the word "pass" followed each name.

"Kazama…." Everyone noticed Sousuke pause at his name while looking at the bottom of the page. "Uh… Pass. But was it really necessary to draw a to-scale wire frame image of a Savage?"

The entire class erupted in laughter, and Shinji hung his head in embarrassment.

"Although," Sousuke said, "it is quite accurate. I must say I'm impressed." Sagara got up from his desk and sorted the papers. "Kazama's was the last quiz, meaning everyone pa—"

"Sensei?" Kaede raised her hand. "You didn't call my name…."

Sousuke furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "That is odd..., now that you mention it…." When he searched behind the desk he found the missing quiz, which had fallen to the floor at one point or another. "Please excuse me."

Sagara picked it up and quickly checked off answers, once, twice…, ten times. When he got to the bottom of the page he stopped. He looked up at Kaede and scrutinized her expression. The attention Sousuke was paying her only attracted that of the rest of the class. Kaede moved in her seat uncomfortably.

Sousuke shook his head and wrote down a number at the top before he stood up. "Uh… Kaede-san: Pass. As I was saying, everyone passed the quiz. As a matter of fact, the lowest grade was a 90."

"Woo!" The class congratulated each other amicably. In the chatter, one voice rose above the rest. "Man, I wish Sagara was our teacher more often!"

All the voices stopped, and everyone froze. The strangeness of the last comment sat still in their minds. Kaname caught Sousuke's eye and grinned widely at him. Other students turned back to the front and sat back in their seats, smiling slightly. Still others seemed to be regretful, perhaps thinking back on their reactions only three days before to Sousuke's assignment.

Sagara cleared his throat and spoke, "Your compliment is very much appreciated, Akagi. But while your grades may appear to be high because I made an undemanding quiz, this is not the case. If one were to analyze this quiz carefully, it is no less difficult, in my opinion, than most of the others we all take here. The class in its entirety performed well because of what you have learned this week. For this you should be proud of yourselves. But I am hardly an equal to Kagurazaka, and I will be very pleased to have someone more fit for the role of instructor than I am come back on Monday."

Most of the students agreed and nodded their approval, but not all. "Takahashi," Sagara spoke to a student near the back. "Your comment earlier this week appears to still be valid."

"_Oh yeah_," one female student whispered to the other, "_Didn't he say 'drop dead' earlier?_"

Takahashi remained silent, his arms folded in front of his chest. He didn't look back at Sousuke.

Sagara seemed to be unaffected. "Well, I am glad we have an opposing viewpoint. If nothing else, Takahashi, you will be a very good candidate for a demonstration."

_Ouch, _Kaede thought, _"If nothing else?" Maybe Sagara-sensei is biting back some anger..._

"No thanks." The student defiantly said without moving.

"Are you sure? Because I'd like to give you the opportunity to put your words into action."

The class looked at Sagara with incredulity. _Huh?_ Chidori thought, _What's he talking about?_

The student finally made eye contact. "What?"

Sousuke coolly turned around and walked towards the front corner near the window. "I'm going to give you the opportunity to shoot me."

(to be continued…)


	9. Chapter 9: Educational Materials

FMP Fanfiction

Hitosawagase

by Esoteria

Chapter 9

----

"I'm going to give you the opportunity to shoot me."

The class in its entirety sat unmoving while they stared, baffled, at Sousuke, who was now opening one of the boxes.

He removed a long rifle and a cartridge from the box, and loaded the five bullets. He walked back to Takahashi's desk and offered him the gun. The student could do little more than extend his hand to receive it, and hold it at arm's length while Sagara returned to the front.

"Don't forget to chamber a bullet with the bolt action. You did not miss any questions on the quiz, so I assume you were also paying attention this morning."

Some of the students looked back at Takahashi, who was still staring at the weapon in his hand. Finally he looked at Sousuke who was standing at parade rest in front of the chalkboard in front of the same aisle.

"Uh…" He blinked a few times.

"'Drop dead,' right?" Sousuke had a serious look in his eyes.

"Well… I didn't really…"

After a moment of silence, Sagara smiled. "Of course you didn't mean it literally. Inspect that rifle carefully."

The student cautiously looked at the rifle. "Um… it looks like the Mauser, but it's like it was just made…."

"A good observation. If nothing else, we can all see that it is not a weapon from nine decades ago, simply because of its condition. In short, that rifle was produced within the last three days. Pull the bolt back and look at the bullet."

Takahashi fumbled with the rifle before finally setting it on the desk and sliding the bolt back. "It's… blue?"

"The weapon does not use normal ammunition. Go ahead and fire at me."

Kaname spoke up finally, "Sousuke! Are you out of your mind, making him shoot you?"

"I never figured him for the masochistic type," said Kyouko on the other side of the room.

Sousuke looked slowly around the room. "I assure you all that I have no desire to be killed or seriously injured. But, Takahashi, you have over two dozen eyewitnesses here that would testify that I asked you to fire on me, should any injury occur. That being the case, I would like you to dispense with your ill intent towards me now, so that you will also enjoy tomorrow's excursion."

The young man scratched his head before slowly getting up and raising the rifle to eye level. Pointing directly at Sousuke, he put his finger on the trigger.

"Bolt." Sagara said.

The rest of the class loosened up slightly after Takahashi briefly faltered, and then finished chambering the bullet. He swallowed hard once before aiming again. "Then don't expect me to go easy on you, Sagara…."

"Understood."

Replacing his finger on the trigger, Takahashi looked down the sights directly at Sousuke's head, and with little hesitation, he fired.

The gasps of several students were heard from the loud noise the rifle made. Takahashi lowered his weapon and looked in surprise at his target.

Sousuke stood perfectly still as dust from the chalk tray at his waist settled to the floor. Less than a few centimeters from his head was a dark red spot on the chalkboard.

"Aiming for the head is only efficient for extremely experienced snipers. The torso is a considerably easier target to hit. In war, an instant-kill shot is entirely unnecessary. If someone is hit anywhere in the upper body, they will be unable to continue combat, assuming they survive at all."

Takahashi growled and raised the rifle up again, quickly pulling the bolt action back and forward. "Don't be so cocky!"

**Crack!** The percussive noise echoed through the walls. It wasn't as deafening as the real thing that Sousuke had fired earlier, but it certainly wasn't a quiet weapon.

Sousuke's body violently hit the chalkboard behind him. His knees buckled. After several seconds of silence, he coughed roughly once and stood up again. The dark red spot was on his chest this time, near his right upper arm. The projectile had pierced his shirt.

"I am impressed with your swift aim and relatively good accuracy, Takahashi. Now I am sure I won't regret having chosen you for a squad leader." Sagara put his fingers on the wound and grimaced. "Don't worry; it didn't even break the skin. This weapon was specifically created to simulate a real Mauser from the 1910's, without the potential for death, dismemberment, or permanent bodily damage. It does, however, sting considerably."

Kazama appeared to be the only one able to speak at this point. "Sagara-sensei, who made that gun?"

Sagara walked toward Takahashi while responding. "My colleagues have constructed two dozen various rifle replicas with the same functionality, as well as several pistols and two machineguns which are also non-lethal. They were produced specifically for this class."

Takahashi handed Sousuke the rifle when he arrived. He put his hand on his chest and sat down, breathing heavily, but trying to hide it.

"They are extremely accurate, with roughly one third the effective range of their equivalent rifle. The same scale of accuracy applies to the other weapons as well."

"Sousuke…" Chidori grabbed his arm when he passed by her with the rifle. "Don't tell me that our field trip will involve us shooting each other…."

"Actually, that is exactly what our field trip will be." Sousuke freed his arm slowly. "Along with these firearms and other weapons, we have dug trenches in the previously mentioned part of campus. We will be simulating trench warfare from the First World War."

"Are you kidding me?" one female student yelled, "There's no way I'm gonna get shot by one of those things!"

Sousuke stopped at the front desk and put the rifle down. "Participation is voluntary—but hear me out: Along with these weapons, combat gear was also specially manufactured for everyone here. The suits will match each student's dimensions perfectly."

Chidori stood up angrily. "Sousuke! Even if it's safe there, what about the rest of our bodies? What happens if we get shot in the eye or something?"

"Do not be concerned. The suits cover the necks, and we have helmets and protective eyewear, also personally designed. There is literally no risk for personal injury except in one case."

"What case is that?" Kaname sat down again slowly.

"If you are hit by one of these rifle bullets…," Sousuke took one cased bullet out of the clip and held it up. It was a metallic blue color. "At a range less than three meters…."

"Then what?"

"Then it is possible the bullet could pierce the skin on the one exposed area: the lower section of the face. Even this is non-lethal, and unlikely to cause permanent damage."

Some commotion came up after Sagara finished saying this. Several students seemed to be saying they wouldn't participate.

"However," Sousuke silenced the class, "if you are within three meters of an enemy, you have already been shot several times. Also, I do not anticipate anyone aiming for the face at this range. Even more unlikely than this is the possibility of two opposing soldiers coming within three meters of each other at all. As we discussed on Wednesday, trench warfare was rarely close-combat."

One male student grumbled with uncertainty. "So it's like paintball or something?"

"This type of weapon could no more be called a paintball gun than a 110-cm katana could be called a knife. It surpasses the abilities of the modern paintball gun in every way. A paintball's exit velocity, at maximum, is 320 kilometers per hour. The proprietary ammunition we have supplied for you travels between eight hundred and one thousand kilometers per hour. The ammunition and weapons are also specifically designed to counter the accuracy problem. In short, the weapons have half the maximum—one third the effective—range of the real thing. We have constructed the combat area in light of this: the trenches are roughly half the distance apart from what would be expected on the Western front." Sousuke passed one bullet to each of the students on the front row.

"I don't get it," the same student said, "if the shots go so much faster than a paintball, how does it not kill you?"

"A very good question. As you inspect the bullet, you will notice that a combination of materials are used. The ammunition was extremely expensive to manufacture, but I am told that there will be more uses for such ammunition, so the cost of initial production was acceptable. Without going into significant detail, the bullet's heaviest materials disintegrate during flight, and the remaining material continues on the normal path. This does affect accuracy considerably: extensive testing was needed to optimize it."

Kaede seemed to be in fairly good spirits about the whole thing. "So we get to fight against each other? And how did you get all this experimental stuff?"

"The equipment was made by a certain group of people who prefer to remain nameless. They have built, tested, and given us these weapons entirely free of charge. The primary purpose of this field trip is to have students understand the affects war has on the psyche. The principal and this group share my hope that our class will enjoy competition with each other while experiencing first hand what battle might have felt like. Again, participation is voluntary, but I hope that everyone will contribute their abilities."

Kaname folded her arms in front of her chest. "I don't know about this, Sousuke… it still seems pretty dangerous."

"Your concerns are valid. For the purpose of safety, the principal has approved some colleagues of mine to join us. They are all experienced in normal combat and with these particular weapons, and will stop any activity that could be hazardous."

Kazama sat up in his chair. "I'll do it!"

Sousuke pulled several sheets of paper from his bag. "Excellent, Kazama. I hope the rest of the class will share your enthusiasm."

"I'm in," Takahashi said, "as long as I'm not on Sagara's team."

"I guess I have to do it," said Kaname, "or else you'll probably do something _really_ stupid."

Kyouko grinned at Chidori. "I want to be on Kana-chan's team!"

Chatter had erupted regarding who would be on whose side when Sagara silenced them.

"I realize you all would like to choose your own groups, but they have already been partly decided for the sake of fairness."

"Aww…" half of the class pouted at this.

"I would like to read the assignments now. They are not permanent, and anyone wishing to change his or her position can discuss that with me. Participation is still voluntary."

The class quieted down to hear their assignments.

"Squad leaders have been determined by several methods. First, those that scored highest on the quiz: Kazama, Chidori, Kaede."

"Kaede-san got the bonus question right?" someone asked.

"Shinji reads AS Fan all the time," Kaname said.

"And Kaname-san got to ride in a Savage during that hijacking incident!" Kazama said excitedly.

"Well, it was more like… 'on,' not 'in.'" Chidori responded. "But… Kaede-san…?"

"Eheheh…" Kaede scratched her head again nervously.

"At any rate," Sousuke said, "Takahashi has also demonstrated skill in the area of combat, so he will be a squad leader as well."

"Gee, thanks," he responded sarcastically.

"The basic setup will be as close to the real war as possible. There will be two squads from Germany, one from Austria, and one from Italy on the Central Powers. Kaede will lead one German squad, and Kurz will lead the other."

"Kurz-san is coming?" Kazama perked up again.

"Yes. Chidori will lead the Italian squad. I will lead the Austrian. For the Allied powers, there will be one squad from the United States, two from Britain, and one from France. Kazama will lead the American squad. Takahashi will lead the French. Two other colleagues of mine will also be participating, and they will lead the British squads. Each squad leader will be solely responsible for determining who will be on their squad and what weapons they will carry. The squad leaders themselves have been selected to fit the country they are representing. For instance, Kurz is a German squad leader because he specializes in rifles. I am the leader of the Austrian squad because I have a long history of battle experience, as did the Austro-Hungarians."

Kaede spoke. "So it sounds like it's supposed to go like the real war."

"That is partly true. The initial conditions of each squad will hopefully emulate the respective countries well. However, the course of history can be changed, so to speak. There is no reason to assume the Allied Powers will emerge victorious."

"Yeah," said Takahashi, "especially if Sagara and this Kurz guy are on the same side."

"Yeah, isn't that a little unfair?" said Kazama.

"It is true that the Central Powers will have more experienced squad leaders. However, the combat area has also been designed with the war in mind. The Central Powers are spread to several fronts, leaving them slightly more vulnerable. It will not be one long trench versus another. But while I'm sure you all have many more questions, I would like to distribute the equipment, and the squad leaders must select their soldiers first. It would seem fair that my colleagues are not here to make the first choices, so those less experienced can select the best soldiers, ideally."

"I'll take anyone who hates Sagara," Takahashi said immediately. A few students raised their hands feebly.

"That appears to be one squad already created. You may come to me to determine your weaponry outfit." Sousuke began taking all the rifles, pistols, MG's, and various other arms out of the boxes, displaying them on the desk.

"Kyouko, you want to be on my team?" Kaname asked while the other students discussed.

After almost half an hour, the squads had been determined and their weapons chosen. Sousuke assigned all the students that weren't chosen by classmates to the remaining squads, and allowed them to choose their own weapons, saying that this decision may be changed by their squad leaders during the trip. He instructed each of these squads separately on who their previously anonymous squad leader would be.

"Now," he said, "Before we go any further I'd like to have everyone make sure that the weapon they have chosen is from their own country. If you're a Lee-Enfield fan and are on the Austrian squad, tough luck."

The class laughed at this while inspecting their weapons.

"Ammunition is readily available here at the front. You may take as much as you think you will use."

"Use for what, tomorrow?" Kaede asked.

"As much as you will use for practice. Firing these weapons for the first time in live combat is ridiculous. You may train with your squad outside of class until tomorrow. You may not train with anyone who is not in your squad."

"But I have track practice!" One female student wailed while looking at her Springfield.

"Do not worry. You will also have roughly one hour of on-site training before we begin the battle tomorrow."

The excitement from the students had been rising steadily ever since Sousuke had assuaged their concerns for safety.

----

Kogure-sensei was walking down the hall happily, looking at a small piece of paper. "I can't believe the principal just gave me such a big bonus! Although I wonder why she said what she did about keeping quiet if I saw Sagara's class…."

Curiosity got the best of him, and he walked over to the classroom door. Peering inside he saw the class gathering ammunition, inspecting rifles, and making battle plans on their desks.

Kogure looked from the classroom to the check in his hand… then back to the classroom… then back to the check.

He shrugged and continued walking down the hall, humming.

----

"Class, our period will be over shortly, so please gather your armor and weapons and set them against one of the walls. You may pick them up on your way out this afternoon. Before the end of the day, I will have wrapped each weapon in a cloth designed both to keep the weapon clean and to disguise it from view while you return to your homes."

"Ha—i" the class said, and they proceeded to line up their weapons as instructed. When the class was over, they walked out, some of them talking about their squads, others complaining about the rifle they were stuck with.

When the classroom was almost empty, Kazama ran up to Sousuke. "Sagara-sensei! Thank you so much!"

"Ah, it was no favor of mine, Kazama, you are fit to be a squad leader." Sousuke packed up the remaining weaponry and clothing.

Kazama left after bowing to Sousuke once. The classroom had become very quiet now.

Kaname walked up to him, and slowly pushed herself up to sit on the front desk.

"So… you put us on the same side, huh?" She slowly kicked her legs dangling from the desk.

"Yes," Sousuke stacked the boxes in the corner, "although we will be in different trenches. The Central Powers were too divided by the time the Americans arrived in the war."

"Yeah… the Central Powers…."

"You were the most suited for the Italian squad. I was best placed with Austria."

"Best suited, huh…" Kaname stopped kicking.

"Uh…" Sousuke detected something was wrong.

"I'm really sorry, Sousuke."

"About…? Oh… don't worry about it."

Chidori looked up at Sagara who was standing there with a box in his arms, avoiding her eyes. "So… Tessa is going to be there, right?"

Sagara froze. "Uh…"

"It was pretty hard not to notice who was climbing out of the window."

"Yeah, that is… um…"

Kaname picked up a revolver and after pulling back the hammer, she spun the cylinder a few times. "Mao-san, too?"

"…yeah, I didn't know anything about it until just then."

"Well… I guess you'll have to fight against your Captain and your real squad leader, right?"

"…I hadn't considered that."

"I'm sure Kurz won't hold back."

"That's true."

"And if I get Tessa in my sights…"

Sousuke paused. "Pull the trigger."

Kaname grinned and spun the revolver around one finger several times. Skillfully stopping its rotation by grabbing the handle, she pointed it at Sousuke, who looked surprised.

"Bang!" Chidori bit her lip to suppress her smile and hopped off of the desk. She set the pistol down, grabbed her bag and ran out of the door.

Sousuke stood in the empty classroom and scratched his head. "But Italy changed sides in the real war…."

(to be continued...)


	10. Chapter 10: The Field Trip Begins

FMP Fanfiction

Hitosawagase

by Esoteria

Chapter 10

----

"So, Principal, that is the current state of affairs."

"Hmm…" the principal rotated in her chair and sat facing the window as she spoke. "I must say, Sagara-sensei, you have exceeded our expectations in every way. One of the administrators went so far as to suggest you allowed your students to cheat on your quiz, considering the very high average."

"Principal, I can assu—"

She put her hand up to stop him. "There is no need to defend yourself, Sagara-sensei. We have the utmost confidence in your academic integrity."

"Thank you, Principal."

She turned back around and placed her elbows on the desk, leaning forward, and hiding her mouth behind her entwined fingers. "This will not be the first time I've said it, but I understand that the amount of work necessary for this assignment is very high. Not only are you responsible for your own class's performance, but also your own performance in your other classes. Your success thus far is an incredible accomplishment for which you should be proud. Even knowing this, I did not try to stop you from adding this field trip to your schedule as I should have," she said regretfully.

"I feel the trip will be highly beneficial to the students, ma'am." Sousuke stood rigidly as always.

"I have no doubt, Sagara-sensei. I am glad your… colleagues, as you call them, have aided you in the preparation for today."

"They have been a great help, Principal. I appreciate your cooperation with them."

The principal took a deep breath before continuing. The devious grin she'd had the day before tried to rise to her mouth, but she fought it back down. "So…," she leaned back in her chair, "it was a shock and a disappointment to me to receive the news I did earlier this morning."

"News?"

"From Kagurazaka-sensei. Apparently the doctor she has seen this week has her on a strictly regimented recovery schedule."

"I wasn't aware her illness was so severe… that is quite unfortunate."

"Indeed. Unfortunate for us as well, in that the doctor has instructed her to stay at home on Monday."

"You require me to instruct the class on Monday as well?"

"We do not require it, Sagara-sensei. Your work has been more than sufficient. We do, however, humbly ask for your services for one more day…."

"Principal, the student council and the administration here at Jindai have been nothing if not accommodating to my—and my colleagues'—needs. As such, I would be pleased to teach the class on Monday."

"I am very happy to hear that, Sagara-sensei."

"Was there a particular subject? My only concern lies in that I will be unable to perform on the level of Kagurazaka-sensei on the vast majority of topics."

"Hmm… Kagurazaka-sensei has informed us that she believes she will be able to cover the week's material in the remaining four days. As you already know, she is unaware of the situation involving you teaching the class, and will remain so until she returns, lest this be cause for concern on her part."

"So the subject material…?"

"…Is up to your discretion."

"I see. Thank you, Principal."

"No, thank you, Sagara-sensei." The principal stood and bowed deeply, to which Sousuke could only respond with a deeper bow. "Good luck with your event today," she said.

"Ma'am!" Sousuke saluted, then turned on his heel and left the room.

----

"Field tri—p!" Kaede shouted while running down the halls, instilling jealousy in all the students who were not in Eri Kagurazaka's class. "Sagara-sensei? Sagara-sensei!" She stuck her head in the door.

"Kaede. You've arrived early." Sousuke was collecting the boxes from the room.

"Yup! I checked in the office but you weren't there."

"It was a logical course of action to come here, then. Is there something you need?" Sousuke set down the box he was carrying on the front desk.

"Well, yeah, actually…" Kaede walked up to him. "It's about the squad leader position."

"Hmm, are you uncomfortable leading these students with whom you are not familiar?"

"Yeah…"

"I would not be concerned. The students will not expect you to be perfect. Hopefully they will be caught up in the spirit of competition or the tumult of battle."

"But I don't know anything about leading a squad…"

"Neither do Chidori or Takahashi or Kazama."

"Yeah, I guess…"

"Just lead your troops as you see fit. There is no right or wrong way. Since you're representing Germany, an entirely defensive strategy might not be fitting, though."

"I want to win!"

"Excellent. I will give you two pieces of advice: First, your squad's morale is paramount. If they are weary from battle or have sustained heavy losses, you must lead by example."

"Um… okay…"

Sousuke's eyebrows were turned in. He was starting to get quite animated as he spoke. "Second, you will be fighting primarily untrained soldiers. This means you can look for your own squad's mistakes, stop them, and then exploit that information for the purpose of **destroying** the enemy." Sagara had clenched his fist in front of him when he said "destroying."

"…" Kaede looked pretty confused.

"…Or… just have fun with it?" Sousuke scratched his head.

"Okay! See you out there!" Kaede started dashing out of the room, but stopped at the door. "Sagara-sensei, do you think these clothes look good on me?" She looked down at her camouflage, which fit her body perfectly, and, when Sousuke looked, seemed to accent her female features.

"Uhh…" He swallowed, and then cleared his throat. "Combat equipment is meant to be tactically advantageous. Its appearance is unimportant except for the purpose of remaining unseen."

"Aww… you're no fun. I saw some boys outside staring, though."

"Hmm…," Sousuke thought for a moment. "Somehow these designs seem to have 'Kurz' written all over them. Are the male uniforms rather… loose?"

"Yeah! How did you know?"

"…Definitely Kurz."

"Well anyway, I better get my stuff and go outside." Her voice dropped in volume suddenly. "I bet Chidori-san will look _real_ good, huh?"

Sagara turned entirely red. Kaede laughed and darted out of the classroom.

_Hmm... I hadn't thought of it, but... Chidori in combat gear…why does that...? Never mind._ Sousuke shook his head and picked up the box.

----

Several people had arrived in the courtyard and were preparing in various ways. Some had come with only the pants and boots on, wearing an undershirt until it was time to put on the jacket. Hayashimizu and Mikihara were standing in casual clothes with Kurz, who was giving them their equipment and explaining it in detail.

"Yeah, we didn't have long to get yours ready. The rifles might be a little less accurate than the others." Kurz thrust one rifle towards Atsunobu, who skillfully checked the sights and chambered a bullet immediately.

"Senpai… you're fast." Ren looked at him admirably.

"Yeah, you look like you know what you're doing, man." Kurz was impressed as well.

"Yes, well, I have some interest in the finer antiques. The Lee-Enfield is a well constructed instrument."

Ren carefully took her rifle from Kurz. Nearby, Mao zipped up her jacket and slung her large machinegun over one shoulder before coming over to them.

"So these are the greens I've gotta deal with?" She sneered.

"Nee-san!" Kurz looked surprised.

"What? I'm supposed to be British now, right? I look down my nose at everybody." She made a quiet "hmph!" and walked off.

"Umm… Weber-san…" Ren was looking very nervously at Mao, whose large bust seemed to commandeer the attention of all the male students she passed.

Kurz laughed. "Well, as much as I'd like to have seen it, yours isn't quite like that, Mikihara." He grabbed the folded pants, jacket, and helmet and held them out to her. "We didn't have time to get your measurements so we had to oversize a bit."

Ren breathed a sigh of relief, as did Hayashimizu. After Kurz handed Atsunobu his equipment he picked something else up from out of the box.

"When Sousuke said he wanted you both on the same team, we were a little thrown off. After all, he didn't say who would be where at all, which is why we have to put these armbands on everyone's uniform and the ribbon around their helmets. Otherwise we'd have no idea who was on what side. But anyway, a couple of the guys thought it'd be funny to make you both some dog tags. Don't go showing 'em off though, we didn't make 'em for everybody." He handed them the red accessories which labelled them as British, and then the two pairs of dog tags.

Mikihara inspected hers and blushed, looking up at Hayashimizu.

"You put both our names on them," he observed.

"Yeah, man. Might wanna get cracking on some target practice after you get dressed." He slapped Atsunobu on the shoulder as he walked by.

On the other side of the courtyard, Sousuke had arrived and was unpacking the remaining weapons—mostly grenades and ammunition. Takahashi walked over to him.

"Ready to go down, Sagara? My squad trained till 'bout midnight last night. Doesn't matter how good you are, you're just one guy."

Sousuke stood up and took a breath. "Takahashi. Today, you are neither my student nor my classmate. You are my enemy. Prepare yourself for a humiliating defeat."

"Eheh…" Takahashi laughed nervously before turning around and walking the other way slowly.

"What are you getting so riled up about?" Kaname's voice came from behind Sagara.

"Just some friendly competit—" Sousuke had to forcibly look towards the sky when he turned around. Chidori had come up to within a meter. Her uniform was almost too perfect.

"Yeah…," she said after rolling her eyes. _I guess it shouldn't really surprise me that he notices this, but not my bathing suit that time on the beach._ "Actually it… kinda feels weird… like leather."

"_Exactly_ what we were going for!" Kurz walked over while affixing a scope on his Mauser Gewehr.

"I should've known you had something to do with this," said Kaname while glaring at him.

"Heeey, don't look at me like that. It's about maneuverability… efficiency… protection!"

"Yeah, and what about that?" She pointed to Sagara's uniform, which was outright baggy.

Kurz laughed. "I guess we got his measurements mixed up."

"Hmm." Sousuke analyzed his and Kurz's clothing. "It appears yours were not mistaken, though." Kurz's uniform was also skin tight at the top, showing off his chest.

"Yeah, well…"

"It is not a problem. I have brought my own equipment, and can use it instead." Sousuke immediately unzipped his jacket and took it off, followed by his undershirt.

"Kyaa!" Several of the female students blushed while looking away—or possibly only pretending not to look. Sagara appeared not to notice, and began taking off his belt.

"SOUSUKE!" **Smack!** The fan came down. "You're _not _taking your pants off here!"

"Ow. What? Taking my pants off? I was just putting on some extra ammunition." Sousuke slid a small article with bullets attached to it onto his belt and tightened it again.

"…Oh." Kaname had acquired the glares of several people around her. Sousuke put another undershirt on and a slightly different colored camouflage jacket.

"Aww!" Kaede said loudly from a dozen meters away, "You missed your chance to tell him how good he looks without a shirt, Chidori-san!"

Sagara stopped. Kurz froze. Mao's mouth dropped. All the students stood baffled. Kaname turned several shades of red.

There were a good fifteen seconds of extremely uncomfortable silence.

"Ehhh—?" Tessa was across the courtyard, having apparently just heard some news. "Sagara-san had his shirt off? What?"

Kurz, Mao, Kaname, and several students fell to the ground instantaneously. Sousuke looked up in confusion at Kaede, who had covered her mouth with her hand. Takahashi had his hand on his forehead and was looking up at the sky.

Kurz shouted, "Alright, alright! We're moving out shortly! Everybody get together, we're gonna go over the whole schedule!"

The commotion died down slowly.

All the students gathered together around Kurz and Mao, who both were standing on one of the boxes.

"First of all!" Kurz silenced all remaining communication with his loud voice. "Any contact with students not involved in this battle is now _forbidden!_ They are no longer your classmates. They are civilians. Non-comm.'s. They are of no concern to you."

A few students looked at each other in surprise.

"Second! There will be absolutely no communication between opposing forces as of right now! The full rules for communication are as follows: Squad leaders on each side will meet for 10 minutes after target practice and field familiarization. Anyone who is not a squad leader is not allowed to speak to anyone not in their own squad! You're separate countries, not a single entity! The world wars are fought blind! You only know what your superiors tell you!"

Everyone started looking around for their squad.

"Those of you who were not selected by a student squad leader should know by now who you are with." Kurz stepped down, and Mao took over.

"We're moving out! Communication rules apply immediately, including while we march to the battle area!"

Many students whined loudly after hearing this. "We have to walk all the way there? It's a really long way!"

"Quiet!" Mao snapped angrily. "Do you think soldiers in the war got to ride in busses wherever they went? They were exhausted from carrying all their equipment with them for days on end!"

The students grumbled.

"Now collect your gear and let's move out!"

----

The march to the battlefield took over an hour. The students had walked mostly in silence, probably afraid of breaking one of the communication rules and being disqualified—or worse—as a result. Most of the female students appeared to have gotten used to their clothing during the hike. It was a rather cool day, so no one seemed to mind the thick material. Angry glares from Sousuke, Kaname, and Tessa diverted the prying eyes of passers by whose gazes were understandably appropriated by either the female students' attire or the class in general, walking with large guns and wearing camouflage.

All the ammunition and other leftover equipment had been transported to the new, mostly forested area. The students were collected in a glen. On one side was a large, professional-looking target practice area. To the other side was the battlefield, a lightly forested area some ways off, marked with signs warning the students not to enter unless authorized. "Trespassers will be shot." The word "repeatedly" was pretty much implied.

Mao stood atop the newly moved boxes and continued her briefing. "Training procedures! All squads will have one hour of target practice and weapons training. You will also have only half an hour to familiarize yourself with your area of the battlefield. You will not be able to go anywhere you want on the field. This is a fictional battleground; no one has the home turf! You'll only be able to get used to your own trench. Times for the field training and target practice will be staggered so that no more than three squads are on the field at once. It would be a very good idea not to show yourselves while inspecting your trench! Giving away your position before the battle starts is not very tactical."

Tessa walked up from behind and stepped up onto the box. She had her helmet on.

"_Captain_?" Kurz whispered.

"Ohhh!" Several male students looked at Tessa intently.

"Hey, isn't that the same girl that was in our class for awhile?"

"I think you're right! And she had that weird swim suit…."

"Shinji-kun, are you alright? Hey! Your nose is bleeding!"

Kazama lay on the ground. "I can't believe it… that uniform… Tessa… she's the best…."

Tessa cleared her throat roughly and spoke with an authoritative tone. "Your presumptions are incorrect. We have not met before. Now, regarding the rules Weber-san has already mentioned. If you are seen conversing with a member of the opposing forces, you will be shot immediately! Treason is punishable by death!"

Everyone seemed to have been silenced by this statement, partly because it was a strong thing to say, and partly because it had come from the normally reserved, high-pitched voice of Tessa.

She continued. "Snipers, riflemen, grenadiers, machinegun operators and loaders, and officers all have separate areas in which to practice for the weapons-intensive section. Consult this list," Tessa held a paper above her head, "for when your squad's scheduled weapons training, squad training, and field training is. You have five minutes to finish equipping and report to your squad leader! Dismissed!"

The students broke up and assembled with their squad. Some of them who were on opposite sides gave each other dirty looks. Kaede was waving her pistol in the air to signal her squad when Kaname passed.

"Hey, Chido—" She stopped talking when she saw Kaname and Shinji nod to each other once. They continued walking normally. Kaede blinked. _What the…?_

"Yeah, what is it, Kaede-san?" Kaname shoved an elbow into the face of one of her squad members who was gawking at her chest.

"Um… nothing, I'll ask you when the squad leaders meet."

Kaname left and Kaede continued waving. Her squad arrived and, she only now remembered, it consisted of three males. Two of them tried to hide it, but the other was looking the small girl over repeatedly.

"HEY!" Kaede yelled suddenly. "Drooling over a girl's figure is _not cute!_ You're supposed to get to know them intellectually first!" Her tone dropped in volume. "Then you can, one day, tell her she's beautiful, and then on another day, walk her home and…" Kaede was looking up at the sky with her hands clasped together at her chest.

From halfway across the courtyard, Kurz was walking past Takahashi, who looked in Kaede's direction.

"Hey, what's she doing? Praying?" Takahashi pointed.

"Dunno."

Kaede's indefinitely-running-on sentence continued. "…and then after you've gone out a few times and told her you love her, then she'll ask you to come inside and meet her parents, and then that night when no one's looking, you can," she squealed with a high pitched voice, "ki—ki—"

Her squad members had sobered up quickly.

"Dude…"

"…yeah. What the crap."

"Seriously."

(to be continued…)


	11. Chapter 11: Treason Punishable By Death

FMP Fanfiction

Hitosawagase

by Esoteria

Chapter 11

----

Mao and Tessa were gathering up the British squads.

"Alright, you dogs, listen up!" Mao was leaning on her rifle, its stock on the ground. "If you follow my orders and don't do anything stupid, we'll have this war in th—HEY!"

A male and a female student were chatting, totally unaware of Melissa's presence.

"You look great in that…!"

"Really? Aww, you're so sweet!"

**Cracckk!** Everyone in the clearing turned around when they heard the gunshot echo off of the trees in all directions. Mao had shot the boy who was ignoring her in the back of his leg.

"OW! Ugh…," he coughed a few times while catching his breath and gripping his leg.

Mao handed the pistol she had taken back to Tessa. "Be glad that wasn't a rifle or MG round. Now quit fawning over each other and listen up."

Tessa whined, "Melissa-san! Don't shoot my soldiers!"

"I'll shoot whoever I damn well please. What were you thinking, putting the two of them in the same squad?"

"I thought it would keep morale up to have them together…!" Tessa was shouting back at Melissa.

"Like it'll raise morale having them make out in the trenches!" She yelled back.

The two students were entirely embarrassed as everyone watched.

"You!" Mao pointed at the male student.

"…Um… yeah?"

"Since you two seem to be glued together, take this." Melissa tossed the large machinegun at him.

He was totally unprepared, and was knocked back a meter and flattened by it on the ground.

"Hiro-kun!" The girl rushed over to him. "Are you okay?"

The boy slowly reached one hand to her while he was still squashed by the MG. "I'm… I'm not gonna make it… you… go on without me…."

"Hiro-kun!" Water started collecting in her eyes.

"Ohh _shut up!_" Mao kicked the machinegun off of him. "I'm gonna give you two some _special_ training."

"Melissa-san, those are my soldiers…." Tessa pouted behind her.

"Yeah, yeah… alright. I've gotta whip these two into shape anyway," she said, pointing with her thumb behind her back, where stood Hayashimizu and Mikihara, both stunned by the spectacle. "How'd we get stuck with all these pansies anyway?" Mao grunted in annoyance.

"Sir, yes sir!" The sounds of several affirmatives came from the other side of the clearing, where Sousuke was pacing back and forth in front of his subordinates, who were at attention.

"You will not cower! You will not back down!" Sagara shouted. "You are battle-worn professionals! Never forget that our leader was assassinated! We, the Austrians, started this war, and we will end it!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

A short distance away, Kurz and Kaname stood, watching Sousuke.

"Looks like he's taking this seriously," said she.

"What did you expect?" Kurz inspected his rifle again, equipped with a scope.

"So… what do we do with these guys?" Kaname pointed at their two squads. Kyouko and five other students looked nervously at each other. "We didn't train at all last night." Chidori didn't sound particularly sorry for the fact.

"I trained some on my own," Tokiwa said.

"Really?" Kurz and Kaname looked surprised.

"Yeah, but I'm not very good yet." Kyouko was putting on her helmet.

"Hey, let me see that rifle," Kurz walked over to her and took it. "Hmm… yup. This is the one."

"The one?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" asked Kaname.

"This rifle," Kurz said, admiring it, "has exceptional accuracy. We made two scopes for these. One went on my rifle, the other was meant for this Italian one. Tokiwa will be the second sniper."

"Eh?" Kyouko got nervous. "But I don't know how to use a sniper rifle! I can't even shoot without my glasses!"

"Don't worry about it. We made all these eye guards for each student. Yours has the exact vision correction you need, and you can fire normally with them."

"But…!"

"No 'buts!' I'm not your squad leader, so I'm not allowed to train you personally. But just remember: Take a deep breath before firing—never shoot while inhaling or exhaling. Aim just above the target at long range." He handed her the scope. "Alright, my squad, get over here. We're gonna show Sousuke's squad what real men—and women, sorry—are made of!"

"Yeah!" They all jogged off with him.

"Kana-chan, I can't do this…," Kyouko said, looking at the scope.

"Don't worry, Kyouko. Sousuke and Kurz will probably shoot the entire class before five minutes are up anyway. All we have to do is not get 'killed.'"

"Kaede-san, isn't it?" Kurz's squad met up with hers.

"You must be Weber-san. Nice to meet you." Kaede bowed.

"Hey, no bowing! We're Germans!"

"Oh, right… sorry."

"Alright, offensively speaking we're on top. We've got the best rifles and an MG on our side. Who's gonna operate it, by the way?"

"I thought these two would be good…" Kaede pointed at two particularly buff students, who were showing off their strength by lifting the machinegun like a free weight.

"Yeah, probably right. Big, brawny, and dumb."

"Hey!" they both exclaimed. Kaede giggled at them.

"You guys know how to use that thing?" Kurz looked at them suspiciously.

"You kidding?" said one.

"Yeah, we unloaded four thousand rounds on this sucker last night!" said the other gruffly.

"Alright, alright. Just remember your ammo is limited once we start for real." Kurz turned to his own squad. "Who's gonna take the 'nades?"

Kazama's team was squatting down on the grass while he drew out the battlefield invisibly. "So that's when we'll attack. This is trench warfare, so expect to take a bullet or two once we make the rush, but if we can get there, it'll all be worth it."

"Kazama-san," one girl said hesitantly. "I don't want to get shot…."

"I understand, but the longer we stay in the trench the less useful we are. We've got a few good marksmen from other squads to provide cover fire. Hopefully that'll be enough." Shinji had donned the air of a true leader since the day before. He looked and sounded like serious business. "I'll go over this plan with the others once the leaders meet."

Everyone nodded.

"Alright. We're one of the first groups to check out our trench. Keep low and keep quiet. Let's move out!"

Kazama's team jogged off towards the battlefield.

----

Takahashi's squad looked fierce. "I've selected you all for one reason and one reason alone. Do you know what that reason is?"

"To destroy Sagara and his squad, sir!"

"Precisely. We're the French, we're supposed to fight defensively. We'll have the best trench position of them all… but the moment any of us lays eyes on Sagara's squad…"

"Sir! Kill, maim, and destroy, sir!"

"Good. We check our trench in exactly five minutes. Be ready to move."

----

It was about a half hour later that the teams started switching places. No one was calling out times, so the squad leaders had to double check the field before leading their squads into the trenches.

In Tessa's squad, the two lovers were firing the loud machinegun with the precision of a professional.

"Keep it up, honey, we've only got a few dozen more rounds!" shouted the girl, who was feeding the ammunition.

Passing by, Kurz's eye twitched involuntarily. "If… if I ever hear a sentence like that again…."

"Captain Kurz, what's wrong?" one of his soldiers was carrying his rifle for him.

"Putting the words 'honey' and 'rounds' in the same sentence… there's something really nauseating about that."

"Weber-san!" Tessa said accusingly from only several steps away. "Are you harassing my troops? And what is this 'Captain Kurz?'"

"You're not a Captain, Captain Kurz?"

"No, he's not!" The real Captain put her hands on her hips and pouted.

"Hey, Tessa… c'mon…" he tried to quiet her down.

**Crack! Crack!** Sounds of gunshots again echoed off the trees even louder this time. Kurz's eyes went wide and he fell to his knees, and then collapsed. Tessa's head snapped back as fell onto her back and writhed on the ground, covering her face.

On one end of the clearing, twenty or thirty meters off, Sousuke lowered his rifle. "Conspiring with the enemy… Kurz, I would never have thought."

On the other side, at roughly the same distance, Mao shouldered her own rifle. "Tessa… I'm sorry it had to end this way. But you said it yourself. Treason is punishable by death."

Everyone looked as dark red spots appeared in the center of Kurz's back and Tessa's forehead.

Takahashi whistled in amazement while walking to the shooting range. "Good thing she was wearing those glasses." As soon as he had finished saying this, a dozen students all around fumbled for their protective eyewear.

Sousuke reloaded his weapon while he walked to the scene. "Normally the squad would share the fate of their leader."

Mao shook her head slowly. "But Tessa, you were the leader of a British squad, and so am I. I'll take them as my own."

"Similarly," Sousuke looked down at him, "Kurz will forfeit his leadership to Kaede for the Germans. However there should be a penalty time, since a squad without a leader will be disorganized and demoralized—unable to move quickly."

"Why don't they just start in their own trenches then?" Kaede didn't seem particularly sorrowful for Kurz's demise.

"No complaints here," Mao said. "The squads will have to decide for themselves what to do. They can't be allowed into the leaders' meetings."

"Agreed," said Sousuke.

"Alright then, further discussion between opposing forces will be met with the same punishment." Mao motioned to her squad to follow as she walked towards the field.

Once everyone had taken a look, they continued whatever they had been doing before, leaving Kurz and Tessa lying on the ground.

"Owww…" the Captain sat up.

"Well that was brilliant," muttered Kurz, whose face was in the grass.

"Dead people don't talk," said Takahashi in passing.

Kazama hung and shook his head as he walked away. "They were such good leaders too…."

The student who had been holding Kurz's sniper rifle simply walked off with it to the shooting range and began practicing.

There was considerable disorder among the leaderless squads. One of the displaced students ended up in the wrong trench, and was surprised to discover a different country arriving at the scheduled time.

A half hour later, the squads began moving positions again in silence. Tessa and Kurz sat sulking, on the boxes they had stood on earlier, with "**Dead**" signs around their necks. Tessa herself really didn't look very much alive. "Blood" had run down her forehead onto the bridge of her nose and stained the skin. Kurz rubbed his back every once in a while, and watched his own squad scattered about.

Kaede's squad was on the firing range.

"Kaede-san, did you get Hiro-kun and Sasa-chan together?" One of her female students asked suddenly.

"Umm… I think they really got themselves together… I just helped a little. But aren't we supposed to be practicing?"

"Yeah, sorry… I was…" she got quiet as she spoke. "_I was just wondering if you could… help me too._" She toyed with the bolt on her unloaded Mauser while she whispered.

"Oh, you don't need my help," Kaede responded immediately. "You just need to confess to him. Why do you think I picked you both for my squad?"

The girl, after looking at Kaede in surprise, looked over at the boy she was referring to. "_You mean… now?_"

"Why not? It's best to do it when both of you aren't nervous." Kaede lobbed a grenade towards the target. It bounced once and tapped the white box—complete with a torso silhouette—before it detonated, splattering "blood" everywhere. The girl soldier cringed when she watched what must've looked like a human heart exploding.

She swallowed once. "_Well… I guess I should… if you got those two together…_" She got up and nervously walked over to the boy while unconsciously examining some ammunition.

"Um… hi, Kazuo-san…." She barely made the words out while watching him take aim.

"Hi," he said dully.

"Um… I wa—" she stopped momentarily and swallowed again. "I wanted to tell you that… that… I… um… like you…." Her volume had decreased considerably by the end of the sentence.

"Huh?" The boy grunted, apparently having not heard her.

**Crack!** He fired the rifle and reached up, bringing back the bolt. The girl recoiled slightly when he fired, and held a hand over her chest. She looked nervously back at Kaede, who was lobbing another grenade and did not look back.

"I…" she swallowed once more, and then finally committed. "I like you… Kazuo-kun…." She stood stiffly and waited for his answer.

"Oh. Yeah, I like you too." He slid the bolt forward again. "You want to go out?" **Crack!** He fired immediately.

The girl's eyes moistened. She nodded several times. "Yes, I'd love to…."

The boy lowered his rifle, looked at her and smiled slightly. "Here, let me show you how to keep from shaking when you aim." He walked behind her and guided her arms and the rifle up to eye level, pushing the stock gently into her shoulder. She looked down the sights, but she may as well have been aiming at a gnat three kilometers off, because she wasn't paying a bit of attention to the target.

Kaede couldn't help the large grin on her face as she tossed another stick grenade towards her target.

----

Tessa and Kurz stood atop the boxes and called for everyone to gather around.

"Since we're dead…," Kurz said.

"…we'll be explaining the combat rules." Tessa finished his sentence. "There will be no official start time. The squad leaders will meet after this explanation, and then you may move into position."

"Needless to say," Kurz continued, "the longer your squad leaders take in meeting, the less time you'll have to prepare your defenses. Efficiency is really important in war. Strategy can only go so far."

"Everyone is allowed the following items. If you do not have them already, get them from the supply crates. Combat gear: Helmet, eye protection, reinforced combat suit, boots."

"Armaments: As much as you can carry. Your trench will be entirely unsupplied when you get there. You should bring as much weapons and ammunition as possible."

"Miscellaneous: One first aid bandage, two rations, one water canteen."

Kurz cleared his throat. "Now, regarding kills and incapacitations: If you're shot, you can't continue fighting until a fellow soldier has treated your wound. If someone is found still fighting while a blood spot remains on their body, their entire squad will be disqualified. You're not allowed to treat your own wounds. If you get shot in the upper chest, stomach, head, or neck, you are dead and can't be saved. The helmet exists for impact protection. It will not stop most real projectiles. So you are not alive even if your helmet is hit."

Tessa picked up. "If you are hit by a machinegun or grenade you will probably be covered with blood. The same rules apply in these circumstances: If blood is visible, you are incapacitated and cannot fight."

"Just as there is no official start time for this war, there's no official end time." Kurz looked at his watch.

Sousuke said something from the back of the group. "If you'll excuse my comment, the principal has given us permission to use the campus as long as necessary to maintain a realistic battle environment."

"Right," Tessa concluded. "Finally, there are no political boundaries. Your squad leader does not have to conform to the actual history of his or her country. Your weapons and defensive positions already take each country's early-war status into account."

"One final thing that we were not originally going to mention," Kurz said sullenly. "We don't recommend you begin fighting before you reach your trench, but there are no rules in war. That's all I can say on the matter. Dismissed."

There was a serious air about the group as they broke into their separate teams. Tessa's and Kurz's executions were still clear in everyone's mind, as was the pain on their faces when they were hit. Each squad sat or stood near each other with hawks' eyes looking for anyone who might start firing. Most of the students were carefully selecting weapons, ammunition, rations, and other equipment. Those who hadn't put on their country's armbands and helmet ribbon did so.

The three remaining squad leaders from each side gathered on opposite parts of the courtyard. Kaede and Kaname looked to Sousuke for the battle plan. Likewise, Takahashi and Kazama waited for Mao to map out their course of action.

A layer of clouds moved in front of the midday sun overhead. The entire area darkened while each student ignited their own killer instinct. And Kurz and Tessa pouted on the large boxes.

(to be continued…)


	12. Chapter 12: Through a Rifle Scope

FMP Fanfiction

Hitosawagase

by Esoteria

Chapter 12

----

The fight was raging less than five minutes after the squad leaders started their meeting. The dry sounds of rifle shots resonated through the trees. Sweat was already appearing on several riflemen's faces.

The battlefield was lightly wooded. The trenches were arranged vaguely in two lines of four. Because the field was half the size of what the real thing would have been, everyone could see their enemies fairly clearly over the pseudo-craters that had been dug out. Even so, the distance was considerable, and no one dared expose any more than they had to.

Kaede's group, the Germans, had quickly dived into their trench and took inventory while one of them fired at whatever moving object he could spot.

"Alright," Kaede was panting from the run, "No one hit?" Her squad all shook their heads. "You all heard what Sagara-sensei said. Looks like we're not going to have much choice but to do it."

Kazuo and his new girlfriend sat with their backs against the dirt wall, facing Kaede who was squatted down. "Are we really...," he was catching his breath, "gonna run out into that again?"

"Yeah, I felt like three bullets go right by me, I don't know…" the girl said.

"You heard Sagara, right?" The rifleman who was firing on another trench spoke up while he reloaded. "If we don't go, they're all done for. We all saw how high-profile they were at target practice."

"He's right," Kaede said. "If we don't meet up with the other German squad, they're going to get themselves killed really quickly. We can't afford to lose a whole squad _and_ a machinegun this early."

**Thok! Thok!** Bullets hit nearby trees, and bark flew from them.

"I'll stay here and watch for snipers," said the rifleman. "You guys make a run for it and give me some cover fire once you're there."

"Good idea. C'mon, guys." Kaede shouldered her box of grenades and immediately dashed out of the trench and across the field, trying to keep low.

Kazuo rolled his eyes and shrugged, then followed her. The girl was right behind.

At this distance, making a run between trenches might have been considered suicide. However, the element of surprise seemed to be in Kaede's and her squad's favor. None of the other squads were very well organized yet. The remaining rifleman took careful aim and scanned the field for any snipers. He saw a few helmets and rifles appear, but only for a second at a time to fire once. No one was being careless on the other side. But just then, he noticed one of the helmets didn't go back down.

Kaede slid feet first into the second German trench, where the two boys were setting up their machinegun.

"Kaede-san!" Kazuo shouted, and tossed both his and his girlfriend's rifles to her before jumping in.

The girl tripped when she got to the edge of the trench, and fell face first into Kaede and Kazuo, who hit the mounted MG in a domino effect.

Kaede scrambled to get up. "Guys! Hurry! We've got to get some cover fire for him!"

While the two machinegun operators rushed to get it set up again, everyone else looked at the last person in the trench they had just left. The lone soldier pulled the bolt back, pushed it forward, and slowly put his finger on the trigger.

**Chink!** His head flew back and he disappeared beneath the ground. Red "blood" sprayed just slightly where the impact had happened.

"Crap!" Kazuo grabbed his rifle and started running back that way.

"Stop, Kazuo! He's gone, forget him!" Kaede grabbed his arm.

"But…"

"We need you here to protect us. And protect her!" She pointed at his girlfriend.

"Yeah…" he stood up slowly. A heroic tone crept into his voice as he nodded sternly. "Yeah, you're right. I—" **Zzzunk zunk!** Two bullets nailed him in the shoulder and the side of his neck. He fell on his side.

Kaede hung her head. "We're so screwed."

The girl wailed. "Kazuo-kun! Kazuo-kun!"

----

Mao grinned as she reloaded her rifle. "Amateurs. Two down already." She turned to Atsunobu and Ren, who were sitting on their ankles, peering out over the battlefield.

"Ohh…," Ren said, "That looked quite painful."

"Hmm… he did have his jacket on, though. I think his collar caught the first one." Atsunobu calculated the impact point carefully.

"Hey, you two! Get those rifles up and start shooting!" Mao thrust the rifles towards them. "Take a lesson from this guy!" She pointed at their final squad member.

"Die! Die! Diiiiie!" He shouted while firing as quickly as his Lee-Enfield would let him.

"Well," Mao said, "maybe not. But anyway, shoot!"

_Click! Click!_ The overzealous rifleman's weapon had jammed. "Piece of crap! Hey, Melissa, gimme another rifle!"

**Whap!** She smacked him across the face. "It's Sergeant Major to you!"

----

"I don't see him, do you?" Takahashi shouted to his squad while scanning the field under his sights.

"No sir! No sign of Sagara!"

"Argh! Screw this! Get ready to move, we're gonna link up with the second British squad. With seven or eight people we're sure to nail him."

"Yes sir!" the two boys and one girl shouted.

"Go go!" Takahashi ran out immediately. The others followed. He heard the whizzing sound of several bullets passing him. **Thump! **_What?_ His lost his balance and fell to the ground when a bullet hit him.

"Sir! Are you alright?"

"Shut up! It's just my leg! Get over there!"

"But—!"

"Go!" Takahashi started crawling prone to the trench.

----

"SAGARAAaa!" Takahashi's shout could be heard the whole battlefield over.

"Hmm." Sousuke inspected his rifle. "Muzzle velocity is even lower than I thought. I was aiming for his torso. This is what I get for not trying it out beforehand."

"He really has it out for you, huh, Sagara-sensei?" One of the three girls in his squad asked.

"Perhaps. But his rage will make him inaccurate. An angry soldier jerks his aim every time he fires. He'll hit nothing but dirt and trees. He is only a threat in that he controls his squad with fear."

"Oh…"

"Once I've eliminated him, I can focus on Urzu 2."

"Who's Urzu 2?" Another asked.

"Er… Mao."

"Oh."

"…You guys…," Sousuke looked behind him. There sat the three girls, their rifles lined up neatly against the dirt. They were sitting with their knees up at their chests, calmly talking to him.

"What… what are you doing?" Sagara managed.

"Hmm?" One of them cocked her head innocently.

Sagara stared in silence.

"What? We're just waiting for you to shoot them all. We don't need to risk getting hit."

Sousuke let his head fall back and let out an exasperated sound.

----

The two lovers who had caused Mao so much irritation before the battle were happily firing their machinegun while Takahashi and his squad scrambled into their trench.

"Did you hit anyone yet, honey?" said the girl feeding the ammunition.

"Nope!" he shouted back.

"Aww, that's okay. Keep going!" They both grinned widely.

Takahashi was next to them getting his leg wrapped up. "This… this was a mistake."

----

**Pow! **One gunshot was heard above the others. The battlefield went silent.

"Ugh—" Mao staggered, touching her neck. Hayashimizu and Mikihara stared in disbelief.

Mao coughed several times while dropping to her knees. "That's… that's impossible…" she choked out.

Previously airborne dirt settled where she had just been aiming. When the dust cleared, Mao saw a small tunnel at the edge of the trench where the remains of a bullet had passed through the ground, hitting her in her seemingly protected throat.

Finally she collapsed.

----

"Nice shot, Urzu 6!" Sousuke's mouth was slightly open while he watched Mao disappear.

"Hey, Sagara-sensei, wasn't Weber-san killed already?"

"Wait, you're right… then—?"

----

Kaname's mouth hung completely open. "Ky—Kyouko?"

Tokiwa was grinning while looking through her scope. "Show me your tender necks… they're my favorite target."

Everyone in the trench crawled a meter or two away from Tokiwa, looking at her with concern and hesitation.

"Uh… Kyouko, we need to leave some of them alive, remember?" Kaname said while laughing nervously.

"Only the Americans. The rest are _mine_."

"R—right…" She checked her watch. _It's almost time..._

----

"Squad!" Kazama shouted to the three girls lined up along the trench.

"Hai!" They all shouted in return.

"This is the moment we've trained for! Are you ready!"

"Hai!"

"Let's GO!" Kazama jumped out of the front of the trench and took off across the battlefield, pistol in hand.

----

"What the? Are they rushing us?" Sousuke couldn't believe his eyes Kazama was unloading rounds in their direction. "Never mind that! Fire! Get up and fire!"

----

Kaede couldn't believe it either. "What's going on? After seeing Mao-san, he's…?"

She pulled the pin out of her grenade with her teeth. "Take this!" **Shhmp!** A bullet hit her… not from the front where it should have come from, but from the side… one of their own trenches. It hit her right in the neck.

"Kaede-san!" Kazuo's girlfriend rushed over to her.

"No!" She shouted. "The grenade!"

**Boom!**

----

"All too easy." Kyouko opened her rifle and grabbed an empty clip from her belt. Metal-on-metal sounds and skillful, swift hand movements made her look deadly even while reloading. When she had finished, she pulled the bolt back to chamber the first bullet. She paused momentarily and grinned at the blue ammunition. _Chick! Clack!_ The bolt returned forward. The rest of her squad gawked while Kazama's squad arrived.

"We all made it but one! We lost one to the machinegun. Are you guys ready?" He panted while catching his breath.

"Um..." Kaname said hesitantly. "Yeah, we're ready, but…"

"But?"

"But only Sousuke's squad is left."

"**What?**" Kazama couldn't believe what he'd just heard.

"…Kyouko… just took out the whole German army."

"Are you serious? How?"

"She never saw it coming," Tokiwa said with a grin. "Pulled the pin out, and then…" she snapped her fingers loudly.

"…Holy… well, never mind, let's go!"

----

"Kazama-san has defected?" Atsunobu watched closely.

"No, Senpai, I think Italy is with him," Ren said quietly.

"Then that explosion at the German trench?"

"Yes. I believe that was also the young sniper's doing."

"…Fascinating. Look! There they go toward's Sagara's trench."

"Ohh… you're right, will Sagara-sensei survive?"

"I'm not sure even he could take on eight at once…"

----

"Unbelievable!" Sousuke ducked into the trench. "Italy… Chidori's squad has…" He panted.

**Boom!** A grenade exploded nearby.

Sousuke caught sight of some blue hair over the trench wall. "Incoming!" he shouted.

The three girls looked at each other, totally unsure of what to do. Machinegun bullets coming from the Italian trench sailed just over their heads. Time was running out before they would be invaded. Sousuke dropped his rifle and pounced on the nearby pistol.

He lay on his back, head up, aiming between his knees at the side entrance to the trench.

**Bang! Bang bang! Bang!** Four soldiers including Kazama went down as soon as they appeared in Sousuke's sights. Chidori then appeared, and Sousuke hesitated for a moment.

"Sorry, Sousuke." Kaname threw a live grenade into the trench and dove to the ground, taking cover.

"Aiiii!" The girls scrambled out of the trench, as did Sousuke.

The girls were all immediately hit by the machinegun when they crawled out. Sagara rolled out of the line of fire as the grenade detonated harmlessly inside the trench. He felt bullets from the British/French trench sail past, and then looked up at Kaname, who had drawn her pistol and stood over him with a dark grin on her face.

**Chink!** A bullet ricocheted off of Sagara's helmet. Chidori looked behind her. There was Tokiwa, nearly four dozen meters away and outside of the trench, lying in the leaves with only her helmet and the scope visible.

She hit the ground angrily with her fist. "Missed the neck!"

Kaname turned back to Sousuke. "You said in class this week that we could stand to learn something from history. Maybe you should've taken yourself seriously." She smiled at him as he realized that history had repeated itself.

"Game over, is it?" He said, turning on his back and looking at the sky.

"Heeey!" Tokiwa waved her hand at them from her prone position. "Can I still shoot the others?"

"**No!**" Everyone within audible range shouted back.

----

Everyone was in a pretty good mood while the sun was setting over the now quiet woods. The clearing had become dark from the tree cover in the early evening, and the cool air restored everyone's energy after a brief but tumultuous battle. In the past few hours, the students had collected in groups, discussing the battle and either apologizing to someone of another squad or bragging about a kill shot. Sousuke sat alone on one of the boxes, inspecting the practice ammunition they had been using.

When he looked up, he saw Kaname's silhouette in front of the sunset-backlit trees. In her teeth she had the red ribbon she always wore in her hair. She was letting her hair down, dressed in a small undershirt and the combat pants. Sousuke was looking at her from the side.

He watched the curvy figure for several seconds. When Kaname pulled her hair back he thought he saw something on the top of her head. Cat ears….

"How come you never looked at _me_ like that?"

Sousuke jumped. The cat ears he thought he saw disappeared instantly. He looked beside him to find Mao sitting with one leg up, resting her chin on that knee, and also looking at Chidori.

Sagara cleared his throat. "Like what?" He swallowed.

Mao grinned at him.

"Hi."

Sousuke jumped again. There was Kaname standing in front of him. He couldn't see her expression clearly because of the lighting.

"Sorry about today," she said.

Sousuke cleared his throat again. "An entirely superior strategy. It is nothing to apologize for."

"Even if it was pretty cheap?"

"…"

"Heheh… So… are you walking me home today or do you have to stay with your _colleagues_?" She said the last word sarcastically while grinning.

"Um…"

"Of course he's walking you home, Chidori-san!" Kaede appeared magically. "Sagara-sensei, I need to talk to you for a minute if you don't mind…."

"Uh… alright." Sousuke got up and followed her.

_Oh crap. She "needs to talk to him?"_ Kaname started sweating slightly.

"You have quite a markswoman for a best friend, you know." Mao changed the subject.

Nearby, Kurz and Tessa were chatting with some of the students.

"Ahh, you know, it was planned from the start," Kurz said with a cocky disposition. "We couldn't have someone of my caliber fighting or it wouldn't be fair."

"Yeah right, Kurz-san!" "Ahahah!"

Kurz's body drooped slightly and he sat down.

"But it was great seeing everyone aga—" Tessa's amicable sentence stopped short. "I mean, uh… it was a pleasure to meet you all…."

----

Sousuke and Kaede walked back to the group.

"What was that about?" Kaname asked.

"I'm afraid it's confidential," said Sagara plainly.

"Right… confidential," Kaede added.

"But that reminds me," Sousuke said. "I need to discuss something with you in private, Chidori."

Her face turned slightly red, though no one could see it since it was getting increasingly dark. "In… private?" _What did Kaede say to him?_

"Yes. Are you finished changing?"

"Um… yeah…."

"Then please come with me." Sousuke led her back to the woods where he and Kaede had just come from.

Mao and Kaede smiled while watching them walk away.

"It's so wonderful," Kaede said.

"What is?" Asked Melissa.

"A teacher and a student…."

"…**what?**"

(to be concluded…)


	13. Chapter 13: The Kitten

FMP Fanfiction

Hitosawagase

by Esoteria

Chapter 13

----

"Meooow—" The kitten playfully batted at Kaname's finger with its little paws.

"He's _so cute!_ How did you end up with this little guy, Sousuke?" The cat flattened against the table it was standing on, squinting happily while Chidori rubbed its ears.

"Hmm…" Sagara had a serious tone, standing in the teachers' office. "Here." He produced a small cardboard box lined with a hand towel. Some fur remained on the towel—proof that the kitten had been sleeping there. On the front of the box was an index card with a message on it.

"'Please take care of me today,'" Kaname read it after a long yawn. "So you just found this box on your desk?"

"Yes. This small animal was inside. There was also this bag of what appears to be cat food." Sousuke showed her the plastic bag filled with dry pellets.

Kaname slowly picked up the kitten with both hands. "He's so light!" She hefted the kitten in her hand, and at this it gripped onto her wrist with its legs to keep from going airborne.

"This is problematic," Sousuke said, troubled. He paused for a moment with an uncertain look on his face. "I am not trained in the care of such animals."

The kitten was now toying with Chidori's uniform ribbon while she held it. "Well, it isn't too hard…. The box says just for today, though, right?"

"Yes. It appears that this cat's owner is unable to care for it today. The question is… why was it left on Kagurazaka's desk? There are not many people who have access to the teachers' office, especially this early in the morning." As his was taken by Kaname, Sousuke sat down in another chair nearby.

"Yeah, I was a little surprised when you called me so early."

"I apologize. I was very uncertain of how to handle this situation. I had considered simply moving the container to another desk, but that seemed somewhat irresponsible." Sagara took a deep breath and sighed.

"Well, you could leave him in the box, but he might get lost or hurt if no one is watching him." The kitten had found something interesting at the waistband of Kaname's skirt and began poking its nose around her stomach while smelling out whatever it was.

"Nahha—! It tickles!" The cat looked around momentarily, and then darted suddenly under her uniform.

"Ack! Sousuke! Ahahah! Do s—do something! Ahahahah!" She jumped out of her chair, laughing.

"Uhh…" Sagara stood up.

"Ahh! It's—it's using its claws! Ow!"

The lump at her stomach moved down until the kitten fell out. Sousuke shot a hand down and caught the freefalling cat, which clutched onto his hand with all its strength. Chidori was catching her breath while straightening her uniform. "Ecchi neko! That hurt!"

The door to the office opened, and two instructors who were chatting entered the room. They stopped their conversation short. There was Kaname, looking flustered, and crouched at her legs behind one of the cubicle barriers was Sousuke.

"…Sagara-sensei…" One of them quickly got an angry look in his eye. "What are you doing to your student?"

"What?" Sagara looked up at Chidori, who looked back in confusion. After several seconds, both realized the situation.

"No!" Kaname stumbled back while her face turned red.

"Geh… this isn't—!" Sousuke jumped up, sending the kitten flying.

**Mrow! **It landed feet first on top of the computer monitor, but couldn't hold its footing and slid off the back, disappearing behind it.

"He's wasn't undressing—I mean—!" Kaname was still struggling for words.

"What was that…?" The other teacher asked, regarding the fluffy projectile.

Kaname and Sousuke looked nervously at each other.

"Uhh… nothing!" Kaname managed.

"It was a… hairbrush." Sousuke said, having quickly regained his calm and military-like voice.

Kaname kicked him in the ankle while trying to maintain a normal composure. _"A hairbrush?"_ she whispered sharply before turning back to the two teachers. "Um, yeah, I just happened to… drop… my hairbrush here and Sousuke was… picking it up."

"…I see…," one said.

The other responded, "Your uniform is a little disheveled."

Chidori laughed nervously while straightening it, realizing that their apparent situation was not improving. "Sousuke… I think they're still getting the wrong idea."

"It's true that they're always together," said one of the instructors quietly to the other, "but I didn't think they were _that _close."

"We're _not!_" Chidori shouted.

"It's happening at a younger age these days…," said the elder of the two.

"I'm telling you, you've got it wrong!" Kaname yelled back. "Sousuke! Help me out here!"

Sagara had completely lost interest in the conversation and was reloading his pistol.

"Sousuke! What are you doing at a time like this?"

"Hmm?" He looked up. "Oh. I had forgotten to switch back to live ammunition after I tested the non-lethal bullets we used on Friday with this weapon."

Silence.

"Wait a minute…," said the younger teacher, "What are we worried about? It's Sagara."

"Yeah, you're right." The two walked to and sat down at their respective desks without another word.

Chidori breathed a sigh of relief and plopped back down in Kagurazaka-sensei's chair. "I guess sometimes you being a military idiot comes in handy," she said.

"I am concerned for the wellbeing of the cat," Sousuke said, while leaning over the monitor to look behind it.

_"Shh!" _Kaname whispered.

"Ah, here it is." Sousuke emerged, holding the kitten by the scruff of its neck. It hung with all four paws dangling, clearly defeated in its attempted escape.

Kaname held out her hands to receive the animal. _"We can't let them see it,"_ she whispered. _"We need to hide it somewhere…."_

"Can't you take it with you?" Sousuke asked quietly.

_"Baka! Where am I going to put it?"_

"Well…" Sousuke tried to think of something else.

The younger teacher spoke from the other side of the room. "Oh, that reminds me, Sagara-sensei."

Kaname heard him getting up and looked around frantically for somewhere to hide the cat. She put it in the first place she found.

"Sagara, what were yo—" He stopped short. "What is _that?_" He pointed at Sousuke's shirt pocket, which was now a large lump. "Another hairbrush?" He asked with some sarcasm.

"Uh…" Sousuke felt the kitten writhing around in his pocket. "No, this is… a grenade." He looked down at it.

Kaname rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I should've known," said the teacher. "Anyway, what were you going to be teaching on today?"

"Hmm." Sousuke took a serious tone again. "I arrived early in hopes of finding some better information about the subject I had selected, but as of now I am still quite unsure that I will be able to teach it properly. I was considering changing the topic here at the last minute."

"Well, a lot of your students are in my class, and they're having a tough time with some of my material. If you wanted to, you could have a self-study period instead of lecturing."

Sousuke thought for a moment. "Would that really be okay?"

"Hah! We do it all the time when we don't feel like teaching."

"Hey!" The older teacher said without getting up. "Don't give away our secrets."

Sagara scratched his head. "I suppose that would be more beneficial than me teaching on a subject I am not familiar with. Also, the field trip on Friday may have set some of them back in other subjects."

"Yeah, I'm behind," said Kaname. A few other teachers started arriving at the office. "Anyway, Sousuke, I'm going to find Kyouko. See you."

"Wait, Chidori… what about…?"

"I'm sure you'll find some way to deal with it. Bye." She bowed to an instructor who she had stopped at the door, then walked out.

"_Ouch," _the younger teacher whispered to the older. _"Is she always like that?"_

_"I might be starting to understand what makes Sagara Sagara."_

----

"Nn—" Chidori held her breath while stretching her arms above her chest. "—ahhh…. Can't believe he made me rush out of the apartment this morning like that."

"Made you…" Kaede was passing by Kaname's desk on the way to her own. "…rush out… this morning?" Her eyes got very wide. "Chidori-san! I know I encouraged you to make your move, but isn't that moving a little quickly?"

_"SHH!"_ Kaname snapped. _"Keep it down! What the heck are you talking about?"_

"Hmm…" Kaede thought over the sentence again, looking at the ceiling inquisitively. "Never mind." She walked to her desk.

"Ugh." Kaname let her head and shoulders fall back and over the chair. "Too many misunderstandings already today."

She sat like this for several minutes, watching students file through the door upside down.

"Greetings, class. I will be teaching today as well." Sousuke walked in. "Do not worry, Kagurazaka is scheduled to lecture the rest of this week. I am only filling in for one more day. I hope this is not a problem."

Sousuke looked around the classroom to see the stares of all the students. "Is… there something wrong?"

Silence.

Kaname looked up after Sagara asked if anything was wrong. She rubbed her eyes and looked to the front. Sousuke was standing in behind the front desk, with a large bulge in his shirt pocket.

**Bump.** Chidori's head hit the desk. "_You've got to be kidding me."_

The students continued staring. The lump started to move.

A few second later two tiny paws emerged from the top of the pocket, followed by some furry ears and finally a little head.

Some more silence.

"Mew?" It made a little noise while looking outside.

Even more silence.

Suddenly: **"Kawaii—!"** A stampede of school girls rushed the front, sending chairs and anything else in their way flying. Dust from the mad dash clouded the room.

"Can we pet him?" "Where did you get him, Sagara-kun?" "What's his name?" "Does he sleep in your pocket?" Excited girls completely surrounded Sousuke, who stood stiffly, caught totally off guard.

The kitten wasn't ready for all the commotion. The dozen sets of wide eyes sent it back inside the pocket, and the closest girls watched it cover its face with one paw as it curled up in fright.

"So cute!" "Aww, we're scaring him!" "Yeah, everybody get back!" "No, I wanna see!" The bell rung, and was totally ignored by the class. Most of the male students had at least enough interest in the animal to make their way to the back of the group.

_This is totally not what I had in mind._ Kaede watched the glob of human beings all fight to see the cat in—or attempt to remove it from—its home.

"Geh… this… got to…" Sousuke desperately tried to find a stun grenade, but couldn't move at all. "There's too many…!"

Kaede let her head fall down to the desk as well. Kaname rolled her own head to one side and looked at Kaede. _Somehow I know she had something to do with this._

"I… ugh. This animal needs a new container…" Sousuke talked to himself. "Never mind that, there's a lack of oxygen in this area… I'll be killed!"

"Let him stay in my purse!" "No, he can stay in mine!" "I have a handkerchief I can wrap him in!" "Oh oh! I have a little bell I could put around his neck!" "Does anybody have ribbon?"

"This is Urzu 7, requesting reinforcements!" Sousuke shouted into the radio he had miraculously freed. "Repeat, this is Urzu 7!"

"He's so cute, Sagara-kun! I didn't know you had a kitten!" "Can we come to your place to see him after school?" The class quieted down, awaiting his answer.

Kaede and Kaname both heard this and froze. _Very bad,_ Kaede thought. Kaname glared at him. _Sousuke, you'd better not say yes._

_I feel the eyes of two enemies suddenly_, thought Sagara. "Uh… no, I am only… taking care of this animal today."

"Aww—!" "He could've been our class pet!" "Yeah, it'd be like in elementary school!" "Think of what the other classes would say!" "They'd be so jealous!" "Hey, let's be quiet and see if he comes out!"

Surprisingly, the suggestion took root and the commotion died down again. Sousuke felt about seven heads move very close to his shoulders to look inside the pocket. Various flowery scents made it difficult to think straight. _If I can just reach my pistol…_.

Kaname was staring at the group. Her angry glare had gone away. Kaede looked over. _She almost looks kind of jealous…maybe having all these girls around Sousuke will make her want to tell him…_.

**Whap! **"Sousuke!" Chidori's fan hit the desk and everyone looked back at her. The angry glare had returned rather quickly. She stomped towards the front. The crowd parted to form an aisle between her and Sagara.

"Is that the best place you could find?" she demanded while coming face to face with him.

"Well…" Sousuke found the grip on his pistol and sighed in relief. "It didn't seem like a good idea to leave it alone in the office."

"So you put it in your _pocket_?"

"Actually, it went there of its own accord."

"Mrow!" The kitten was now hanging precariously from the top of the pocket, while wrestling with Kaname's ribbon, which it found so fascinating. Suddenly it looked like it was about to fall. Chidori instinctively moved closer, causing the cat to fall back into Sousuke's pocket, followed by its paws—attached to the ribbon which untied itself and came off.

A few wolf whistles came from the back of the group. "Ooooh…" "They're pretty close…."

Kaname looked up to find her lips not more than two centimeters from Sousuke's. She jumped just slightly in surprise before looking into his eyes. They both turned red in front of their onlookers, but remained still.

_Click!_ Kyouko took a picture quickly.

Kaede bit her lip. _YES! Go, Chidori-san, go!_

Sousuke looked down to divert his eyes to the cat—a convenient means of escape—but unconsciously stopped at Kaname's now open collar.

**Slap!** "Baka!" She turned around angrily and began plodding back to her seat.

"Aww," came the disappointed voices of all the girls.

"_Thank _you," came the relieved voices of all the boys.

After everyone watched Chidori plop down in her chair and bury her face in her arm on the desk, Sousuke spoke hesitantly.

"Um… would… everyone please return to their seats?"

The class grumbled while they reluctantly did so. When everyone had sat down the comments started again.

"You know what would have been cuter?" said one girl audibly to another. "If she still had the cat ears on while that hap—" the girl stopped short when the flaming eyes of Chidori met hers.

"I would have rather seen it happen with Tessa," said one of the males.

"No—!" Kazama blurted out before covering his mouth.

Kaname's eyes met Kyouko's. She was waving her digital camera and grinning evilly.

"Uh…" Sousuke got everyone's attention again, while the red ribbon hanging out of his pocket slowly disappeared inside.

He cleared his throat. "I have two important announcements. The first is that we will be having two periods of self-study today. You should study your work from other classes during this time to make up for what you had missed on Friday."

"Yay!" "Can we play with the kitten?"

Sousuke ignored the question. "The second announcement is that Kaede-san will be leaving earlier than anticipated. Today is her last day."

"Aww!" Most of the class seemed very upset. "Kaede-san, no…!"

Kaede smiled nervously.

"That being said," Sagara looked down at his pocket, "the cat you all seem to be very interested in appears to have fallen asleep, so it should be left alone."

"Aww… too much excitement for the poor thing," someone said after making an empathetic sound with her tongue.

"Now, please begin your study. I also have a large amount of assignments from last week I must complete." Sousuke sat down at the desk and began reading in a textbook. Everyone followed suit. Chidori's heart rate finally started a steady decline as the terrible morning began to calm down.

----

Late that afternoon when school let out, Kaname met Sousuke outside at the entrance. "Well, this morning was a disaster…," she said, blushing only slightly.

"Yes… I was unable to use a stun grenade when I was attacked."

"Good thing…"

"Kaede-sa—n!" A girl ran over to her. Sousuke and Kaname stopped to watch the conversation. "Kaede-san, I can't believe you're leaving so early!"

"Yeah, well… my dad's work makes us move around a lot… and we're never sure when…." She scratched her head.

Tears were building up in the girl's eyes. "I'll miss you! Thank you so much for getting me together with Kazuo-kun!" She hugged Kaede tightly.

"Heheh… I didn't do anything at all…." Kaede's eyes were moistened a bit, too.

"He wants me to meet him in the courtyard, so I have to go. Bye, Kaede-san, work hard at your next school!" She ran off while wiping her tears away.

Kaede turned around to see Sagara and Chidori looking on. "I guess I caused more trouble for you two than good…."

Kaname paused for a moment, and then smiled. "Well, I have one or two stories to tell when I'm older, I guess."

"Yeah, I guess. Why didn't you two tell me Sagara-san wasn't the real teacher?"

"You thought I was the real teacher?" Sousuke said, surprised.

"Yeah… you're good enough at it to be a real one…."

"Ah, no, I am highly inferior to Kagurazaka." Sousuke looked a little embarrassed.

"So why didn't you tell me, Chidori-san?"

"Well… it's because if I told you… I was worried you might blurt out… something."

"Ohh… you're right, I might have done just that. Haha…." Kaede crossed her arms in front of her uncomfortably.

"Blurt what out?" Sousuke asked.

"Nothing…" Kaname said immediately. Sagara turned to Kaede inquisitively.

"Yeah, nothing… heheh."

"I see. Well, I must apologize for my actions during the first few days."

"Oh… don't worry about it."

"Yeah…."

The three of them stood uncomfortably for several moments.

"Well, see you…" Kaede turned to leave.

"Wait, Kaede-san." Chidori stopped her.

"Hmm?"

"Don't you want your kitten back?"

"What?" Sousuke looked at Kaname. "It's hers?"

"Heheh… you found out…."

Sagara took the little cat out of his pocket by the neck. It clung to the ribbon tightly.

"My dad got her for me before we left my last school…."

"Oh, 'her?' She's very cute…," said Kaname.

"Thanks… I thought Sagara-sensei—I mean, Sagara-san might like her."

"It is an impressive specimen," Sousuke said. "It is able to skillfully land on its feet."

"…You _threw my kitten_?" Kaede said, appalled, holding it back from them.

"Uh, no, it wasn't really…"

"Well…," Kaede loosened up again slowly, "she looks okay." The girl rubbed the kitten's ears, while it squinted happily.

Sousuke changed the subject entirely. "You are a remarkable young woman. You manage to achieve excellence in academics and athletics in each school you attend while you move very often."

"Ah, no…," Kaede blushed and looked away. "You're pretty amazing yourself, Sagara-san. You're a very good teacher, and you work at that military job, too."

Kaname and Sousuke both froze. Chidori looked over at Sagara nervously. _How does she know that?_

"But it looks like you've made a lot of friends there too," Kaede concluded.

"Uh…"

Kaede noticed Sousuke's confusion. "The white haired girl and the two others work with you, right?"

Sagara inwardly breathed a huge sigh of relief. _Of course she would assume I work with them. I called them my colleagues in class and they brought guns and ammunition for us to use._ "Yes, although the details are somewhat confidential…."

"That's okay. Well, good luck with it Sagara-san."

"Thank you."

"And good luck with you-know-what, Chidori-san!" Kaede hugged the kitten close to her and ran off while Kaname turned red again.

"What was that about?" Sousuke asked.

"Um… nothing really. I wonder if we'll ever see Kaede again…."

"Hmm. It doesn't seem likely."

"You're not supposed to say that, Sousuke…." Kaname gave him an uncertain look.

"But it's true…."

"Still… you're supposed to say something like," her voice turned gruff when she imitated a man, "'I'm sure that one day we'll see each other again.'"

"…Oh." The point was completely lost on Sagara.

Suddenly: "**There he is!** He's the one with the kitten!" came from the entrance to the school. Sousuke and Kaname looked behind them to see a large pack of girls that had collected near the door. Several of them had small accessories in hand, clearly intending to equip the cat with them. When they acquired their target, the giant mass came towards them at a staggering speed.

"They've obtained reinforcements!" Sousuke had already pulled the pins, and tossed two grenades before Kaname knew what was going on. "Cover your eyes, Chidori!"

"What?"

A flash and a terribly loud noise followed. Smoke poured out of the grass where the other grenade had landed between the horde and themselves, quickly covering the area in front of the school. "Did it stop them?" Sagara reached for his pistol.

**Whap! **Kaname had stopped shielding her eyes. "NO GUNS!"

"But—!"

From the smoke emerged the girls, who were not to be swayed from their objective, even if they were coughing. "Get him!"

"Never mind! Run, Chidori!" Sagara grabbed Kaname's hand and took off with her down the street, followed closely by the massive group.

(End of Hitosawagase)

Sagara Sousuke will return in… "Shougeki"

----

Author's Notes

----

_Thus ends my second volume. I hope you all enjoyed reading Hitosawagase as much as I enjoyed writing it!_

_As is implied by the last line of Chapter 13, I will indeed be writing the action volume, Shougeki ("Impact"), as originally intended. As most of you know, news on this and my other, larger fiction can be found in my profile. I will try to keep it up to date as much as possible._

_I am sorry to say I didn't keep up with responding to reviews as well as I did during Wo Futari De's posting. Know that I am still very appreciative of all types of feedback._

_On a final note, the comedy was a tough volume to author. Humor in writing is a difficult thing, I found out quickly. Especially some of the hidden humor is lost when reading it instead of hearing it. (For example, when Sousuke stops his sentence short when he sees Kaname in her combat suit, the particular syllable he stops on is easy to miss when reading.) That being said, I still think the volume came out better than I had expected. Please look forward to my next volume!_

_Thanks again to all my readers and reviewers!_

_ (thus ceases the cheesy lines of humility and appreciation)_

_ -Eso  
_


	14. Omake 1: I Am Compassionate

FMP Fanfiction

Hitosawagase

by Esoteria

Omake

----

"Ugh." Kaname let her head fall back until it hit the wall behind her. "I can't believe we're actually doing this."

Kyouko was sitting in the seat next to her in the waiting room. "It might help, you know… plus it was free."

"Yeah… I just get a feeling we're going to have an incident like at the barber shop."

----

"So, do you know why your friends brought you here, Sagara-san?" A woman in her mid-thirties with rimless glasses and long dark hair sat across the room from Sousuke.

"Yes." Sousuke sat uncomfortably on the couch, his hands on the cushions. "They believe that consulting one in your profession will improve my ability to act in normal society."

"Do you think that's true?"

"…"

"Sagara-san, psychologists are here to help you with problems you're having. We don't diagnose you with illnesses or disorders and we can't prescribe medicines. There's no shame in coming here. Why don't you lie down?"

"Such a position could lower my ability to respond to threats."

The woman looked down at a piece of paper on her clipboard. "It says here that you carry a pistol with you. Is that true?"

"That is correct. It is a Glock 26: a compact polymer-frame handgun firing nine by nineteen millimeter parabellum ammunition capable of ample penetration which results in stopping power sufficient for everyday encounters. Its light weight and integrated safety system makes it ideal for concealed carry and decreases the likelihood of an accidental discharge while maintaining single-motion discharge capability, which is extremely important for rapidly immobilizing enemies."

The doctor's eyebrow twitched slightly and her jaw dropped. After a moment she shook her head and regained her composure. "Why did you get a concealed weapon permit? They are very difficult to obtain in Japan, aren't they? Do you feel threatened when you are in public?"

"I must always be aware of possible threats."

"Your friends say you may have problems with symptoms similar to those resulting from paranoia."

"…It is true that I have occasionally misinterpreted others' actions as harmful."

"Your friends want to help you… they want you to try be compassionate, not violent."

"I am compassionate. I avoid kill-shots whenever possible."

"…I—I see. Sagara-san, you have a part-time job, don't you?"

"I am on call 24 hours a day."

"That's tough on a high school student. Is your workplace far from here?"

"…My place of work is mobile. It can be as far as three thousand kilometers from here on a normal occasion."

"Does it pay well?"

"Yes, my pay is considerably higher than that of most adults."

"You look very uncomfortable, are you sure you won't lie down?"

"I am concerned for Chidori's safety."

"She is sitting right outside in the waiting room. If anyone comes in or out you will hear the door bell ring."

"Hmm… perhaps you are right." Sousuke turned to lie down on the couch, removing his pistol from behind him. He slid out the magazine, pulled back the slide and caught the bullet that came out of the chamber. He pushed the bullet into the magazine, reloaded the weapon, and chambered the bullet again. After doing all this in a matter of a few seconds, he rested the pistol on his stomach and let his head lie on the pillow behind him.

"I think, Sagara-san, that you have a very stressful life, so your actions are quite understandable."

"…I am surprised by your understanding."

"Do you have any questions that you want to ask me?"

"…I cannot think of any."

"You mentioned your friend, Chidori-san. Clearly you are devoted to protecting her. Is she your girlfriend?"

"…No, I don't think we have that designation."

"What sort of female influences have you had in your life? What was your mother like?"

"I was too young to remember."

"What about other women in your life?"

"Hmm… there is Mao…"

"What sort of personality does she have?"

"…She is loud. She gets drunk often, but is somewhat friendly."

"And Chidori-san?"

"…She is loud. She gets angry often."

"Hmm… and these two are the closest females in your life?"

"There is also the Captain. She is… very difficult to understand… but a good leader."

"I see. Let's move on. I'd like you to describe a time with Chidori-san where you felt you were wrongly accused."

"Hmm…" Sousuke lay silent for several moments.

"Is it difficult to think of one?"

"…No, it is difficult to think of only one."

"Which is the first that comes to your mind?"

"Hmm… recently there was an incident…." Sousuke recalled the events and narrated them.

----

"Get down! Everyone get down!" Sagara flung open the window and threw the cell phone outside as hard as he could.

"Noooo!" A nearby girl wailed and ran to the window. Sousuke immediately tackled her to the ground while the rest of the class grumbled and slowly crouched down with their hands over their heads.

A voice came from outside in the hall. "Sousuke… you'd better not be—geh!" Chidori's jaw dropped as she found Sagara with a female classmate on the floor. He turned to her with wide eyes.

"Chidori! Take cover!" Sagara hadn't wasted any time in sprinting to the door. He now tackled Chidori in full force, sending them both into the wall behind her with a tremendous crash.

Sagara opened his eyes after several seconds and blinked. "That's odd." It suddenly occurred to him that there should've been an impact against his head. He looked upward, feeling something very soft and cushion-like on his cheek as he did so.

Kaname's face and neck were a very bright color of red. Sagara's face was buried in her chest, and she stared into the classroom where students were slowly collecting at the door. "Wh—" she started absent-mindedly. "What's… odd…?"

Sagara's eyebrows furrowed for a moment. "The bomb… it didn't detonate."

Kaname slowly pulled his head away from her while still staring into space. "What… bomb…?"

"In the cell phone. The ringing tone was clearly accelerated Morse Code for 'Bomb.'"

"Kaname stood up without looking around and brushed herself off. "…Morse Code…" She started walking down the hallway with the same blank expression on her face. "…Morse Code ringtone…"

Sagara stood up slowly and looked around.

"She took that surprisingly well," someone nearby said.

Sagara still looked confused. "I don't understand why it didn't detonate."

"Hey, here she comes. What are those things in her hands?"

Sagara looked over at Chidori, who was walking calmly in his direction. When he looked at the objects in her hands he started to sweat profusely. "Uhh… Chidori…."

Kaname's calm walk turned into a run while Sagara started walking backwards with his hands up in his usual "please don't hit me" position.

"You…!" she yelled. "Stupid…!" She was closing in. "**Pervert!**"

**Smack-smack-smack-smack-smack! Smack-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack!** Two punishing fans connected with Sagara's face in rapid succession. Kaname twirled and spun to direct the unstoppable blows in a whirling fury of white and blue.

It was several seconds later when Kaname's flurry of attacks completed with her panting and bent over. Sagara lay lifeless on the hall floor.

His reprieve didn't last long, however, before Kaname had grabbed his collar and was shaking his limp body.

"A cell phone with a Morse Code ringtone? You're just making stuff up to shove your face in girls' chests, you pervert! I thought for just a minute that _maybe_ it was an honest mistake and that you were just being paranoid again, but then you…!"

Kaname continued her accusing rant for about thirty seconds.

Someone nearby whispered to a classmate next to him. "I think she's just mad that he didn't go for her first."

**Fwoosh…. Whap!**

The student fell to the floor without another sound after one of the fans came flying through the air and hit him in the head.

"So what do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Pervert?" she shouted at Sagara.

Sousuke opened his eyes slowly. "…But the rest of the class took cover. They too must have understood the thre—"

"They just take cover when you tell them to so you won't tackle them!"

Sagara looked around slowly at all the classmates who were nodding in agreement or shrugging as if to say "Well, it's true."

"Look!" Kaname shouted and pointed at a girl still well within the classroom. The students near the door moved out of the way so that everyone could see her. She was crouched down on the floor and crying silently. "Look what you did to her with your perverted harassment! She's emotionally scarred!"

The girl looked up in confusion for a moment despite the tears in her eyes. "No… I… I just… realized… all the pictures… I lost… on that phone…!" She sniffed once and buried her face in her hands once again.

Kaname's head dropped for a moment. "You don't care about him grabbing you in the chaos?" she shouted incredulously.

The girl looked up for another moment. "…Not really…."

"Chidori-san," someone nearby said. "There's no way even Sagara-san would—"

The sounds of heavy footsteps suddenly could be heard in the hallway.

----

"It was then that our teacher came and required the students to return to their respective classrooms," Sagara concluded.

"Hmm…." The doctor thought to herself for several seconds. "I'm going to say several words or phrases, and I want you to tell me what comes to mind immediately, and in as few words as possible. Adjectives are often best."

Sagara nodded.

"Work," she said.

"Stressful."

"Recreation."

"…Fishing."

"Summer."

"Beach. Shotgun. Watermelon."

"Enemy."

"Amalgam."

"Friend."

"Comrade."

"Sagara, that was just another word for 'friend.' I was expecting you to name someone, like Chidori-san."

"…I see."

"That's alright, let's continue. School."

"Unsafe."

"_What…_ is the capital of Assyria?"

"Nineveh. Why is that relevant?"

"It's not. I'm just a Monty Python fan."

"Understood. I have a superior in my… place of work that is the same way."

"Is he older than you are?"

"Yes. Considerably."

"Do you think he is a good role model?"

"He gets angry easily when it comes to the Captain."

"That seems to be a recurring theme in your relationships. Why do you think he gets angry?"

"I once pointed a gun at him."

"That will do it."

"I misinterpreted him as an enemy."

"But he didn't understand that."

"No. He forced me to rearrange my apartment repeatedly overnight pending the arrival of the Captain."

"Your… 'captain' came to visit you in your home?"

"Yes."

"How old is she?"

"She is the same age as I am."

"Are you attracted to her?"

"My work would forbid such relations."

"But that's not my question."

"No, I am not attracted to the Captain."

"I see. Moving on with the exercise. Kaname Chidori."

"'That hurt.'"

The psychologist sat silent for a moment. "…It's not very professional for me to ask this, because the exercise is more for your information than mine, but why on earth did you say 'that hurt' when I spoke of Chidori-san?"

"…She uses a fan whenever I make a mistake. It is painful."

The doctor suddenly realized that the words were a quotation, and not an indication that what she said was the cause of pain. "…I see. Do you feel she abuses you?"

"Her reactions are sometimes understandable after she explains my error."

"Is there anything else you'd like to mention about that?"

"No."

"You mentioned 'Amalgam' when I said the word 'enemy.' Who or what is Amalgam?"

Sousuke's hand twitched slightly. He said nothing.

"What are they after that makes them your enemy?"

"…Why do you ask such a question?"

"I'm just curious. You said you were protecting Chidori-san. Do you believe this Amalgam is after her?"

----

**Boom! Fwack!** The door to the waiting room burst open.

"Chidori! Are you alright?" Sousuke shouted as he backed into the room.

"Sagara-san! What are you doing?" Kyouko exclaimed.

"Where is Chidori?" Sagara demanded.

"She's in the bathroom."

"The bathroom!" He turned to the doctor who he had in a headlock. His pistol was pressed against her head. "So you had them stationed there all along!" He began running backwards to the women's bathroom door with the doctor.

"Sagara-san!" Kyouko said urgently, "I know you're going to go in there anyway, but at least leave the doctor here. Kana-chan might be a little less upset…."

Sousuke looked around for a moment, then loosened his grip on the doctor. He backed away from her slowly, still pointing the pistol at her. "Take this," he instructed Kyouko.

"What? I don't want it!"

"Take it! If she moves, shoot!"

Kyouko hesitantly took the pistol from Sagara, knowing things would only get worse if she didn't comply. Sousuke had burst through the bathroom door a moment later, and Kyouko was left apologizing softly to the doctor.

"I'm sorry about this," she said, chuckling nervously. "You see why Kana-chan brought him here?"

The doctor sat on the floor quietly and regained her composure. "The sheet your friend Chidori-san filled out gave specific instructions on what to do if this happened."

"Oh. I guess she's learning by now."

"It appears so."

----

**Fwack! **The door to a bathroom stall flew open. "Chidori!"

**Fwack! **"Chidori!" Sousuke opened the second of three doors.

**Fwa—bump! Wham!** The door opened slightly, then came back in Sousuke's face. He flew backwards into the line of sinks. His head kept going back and hit the mirror behind him. It cracked in a radial fashion.

"Sousuke!" Kaname was shouting, obviously. "I'm going to _kill_ you!"

"Chi—Chidori…!" Sousuke said while stumbling to a standing position. "Are you… are you…"

"I _was_ fine until you came in here and tried to break my legs by kicking the door open! Never mind that I was _on the toilet_, you idiot!"

Sousuke looked up with a somewhat relieved expression. "Then there was no ene—"

**Whap!** The fan came down on his head.

"…That hurt, Chidori."

Kaname put her hands on her hips. "If I hadn't seen this coming all day I'd ask _why_ you thought there were terrorists or whatever in here."

----

"No sudden movements? Yeah, I guess that would set him off." Kyouko was still halfway pointing the pistol at the doctor.

"And it said most importantly not to call any authorities, lest they be mistaken for terrorists in disguise."

"Umm…," a squeaky voice came from the reception desk. A young woman's hair and eyes could be seen peeking over the counter. "I _wasn't_ supposed to call them?"

Just then, the door opened much more slowly than it had previously. This time, Sagara was in the headlock.

"Chi—chido—…I can't breathe…!"

"Deal with it!" she shouted back.

Kyouko stood up. "Umm… Kana-chan?"

"What is it?"

"We have a little bit of a problem."

"I'm holding onto the big problem right now."

"No, um… the receptionist called the police."

Kaname released Sousuke suddenly. "…You're kidding…."

The doctor said, "But it shouldn't matter now, right? Sagara-san knows there's no threat."

"I don't want to be questioned and have to stay in a dirty jail cell overnight!" Kaname shouted back. She ran over to the receptionist, who recoiled in fear. "Give me paper and a pen!"

The receptionist, shaking, handed her a clipboard with pages used for insurance information.

Chidori scribbled for a few moments, then handed it back. "Bill the damages to that address!"

Sousuke stood up, "How many are there? I'll—"

**Whap!** "No guns!"

"No, I have—"

**Whap!** "No tasers!"

"Then…?" Sousuke couldn't finish before he was yanked towards the door.

"We're getting out of here!" Kaname shouted as she half-stomped, half-ran to the exit.

"Wait!" Sousuke said. "They'll be coming that way. To the fire escape!"

The yanking reversed, and Chidori was pulled in the opposite direction. Before anyone could think, they had disappeared out of a window.

Kyouko stood with her jaw dropped. "But… but… I still have the gun! Waaaait!" She ran frantically to the window and jumped out.

The doctor still sat on the floor. "Hey, Sakura?"

"…Yes?" The timid voice came from behind the counter.

"_What…_ is your favorite color?"

From behind the reception desk, there was the distinct sound of a body crumpling to the floor.

(End of Hitosawagase Omake)

----

_Author's notes: So that's it for Hitosawagase. I hope you guys enjoyed the omake. Those who understand the references will probably enjoy the homage to Monty Python. Those that don't will find them rather out of place. But hey, it's an omake. I can do stuff like that._

_Now, onto business. As many of you already know, I have released this omake at the same time as the first chapter of Shell, my first completely original work. It's a lot bigger than my fan fictions have been, and I have spent and still intend to spend more time on it than the fan fictions. Kaede, the new character in Hitosawagase, is the main character in Shell, although the time is a bit different, and her character has changed a little bit as a result. The first chapter in particular, but also a good part of the whole story, has a continuing romance. Those that enjoyed Wo Futari De will hopefully enjoy Shell. Unfortunately for those that really liked Hitosawagase better than my other FMP writings, there isn't much humor in Shell. It's a much more serious story._

_Speaking of Wo Futari De, I think some of you are anxiously awaiting the omake for that. Well, fear not: I have what I think will be a really good short story in mind. I'm hoping to meet the expectations for the fan-favorite romance._

_Anyway, let me use this time to thank you all for reading. If you've just read most of Hitosawagase, and you haven't reviewed it yet, please do! It's very encouraging to hear from readers, even if the review is critical._

_More than anything, I would love it if you all would give Shell a shot (no pun intended). Even if you're not interested in romance stories, stick with it. The story becomes much more involved as it goes along. Check my profile for the link to my fictionpress-dot-com profile, which will lead you to Shell._

_Thanks again to all readers! I'm looking forward to hearing from you!_


	15. Omake 2: Halloween

----

FMP Fanfiction

Hitosawagase

by Esoteria

_Author's Note: This is a previously unannounced omake I decided to write mostly on a whim after I got the idea. It's in-season so I'm posting it with less editing then usual. Hope you enjoy it!_

Omake 2

----

Kaname and Kyouko were chatting together as they walked down the supermarket aisle.

"But you'll never believe what he said!" Kyouko exclaimed.

"Oh, I think I can guess...," Chidori responded with a grin.

"What? Really?"

"Hmm... well, it's just a hunch, but was it, maybe...," Kaname was looking at the ceiling with an inquisitive expression, "'No thanks, I'll take the stairs?'"

Kyouko's jaw dropped. "How--How did you know?"

"Eheheh... I saw a screening of it a few weeks ago."

"**Ehhh--?**With who?"

"Oh, no one important..."

Tokiwa moved closer to Chidori's face and glared suspiciously. "Something seems strange..."

"I would've gone with you, but there were only two tickets..."

"Hmm... definitely strange," she said, further inspecting Kaname's expression, which was turning more and more comical. "What's so funny?"

"Ahahah... you look so funny like that."

"It was Sagara-kun! He finally took you on a date!"

Kaname's expression turned to annoyance. "Of course it wasn't that idiot. Besides, even if he was smart enough to get screener tickets, he'd probably find some war film, not a romantic comedy."

"Well, you'd still go if he did, right?"

"Oh, come on."

"You would! Besides, you like movies with big explosions and stuff in them anyway."

Kaname changed the subject. "Hey, look. Crab is on sale." She pointed at some canned crab on a lower shelf.

"Wow," Kyouko said, her topic having been very successfully squelched, "It's buy one, get one free!"

Chidori squatted down to look at it. "Yeah! Wait, whoa... its regular price is 900 yen!"

"That _is_ a little high..."

"Geez!" Kaname exclaimed. "It's just crab!"

Suddenly, the music in the supermarket stopped and an announcement was made.

_"Attention all employees. We have a Code 3. Repeat, Code 3."_

"What's Code 3 mean?" Kyouko asked mostly to herself.

Kaname didn't seem interested. "It's probably just a way of saying they need a clean-up somewhere or something."

"But wouldn't they have to say which aisle if they were doing that?"

"...I guess." Chidori didn't seem to mind that her idea had been rather systematically shut down.

"Are you still mad about the crab? It's on sale, so it's not that important that it was 900 yen to begin with."

"...That's true."

"Oh! I bet it means they need another register opened at the front or something."

"Huh?"

"The Code 3."

"Oh."

"Why are you spaced out all of a sudden?"

Chidori stood back up. "What? Oh, sorry. No reason."

There was a crescendo of heavy footsteps. Kaname and Kyouko both looked towards the end of the aisle. After a moment, two police officers ran by with weapons drawn.

"What the...?" Kaname said.

They heard a voice behind them say, "Aisle 8 clear!" As they turned around, they saw a third police officer moving to the next aisle.

"That's weird," Kyouko said with a bit of anxiety.

"Yeah, it--**ahh**!"

Someone had suddenly appeared at the aisle entrance right in front of them.

"S--Sousuke! What are you--?"

"There's no time!" he said quietly but urgently. "Come with me. Now!"

"What? No! Sousuke, you're making troub--ack! Let go!" Kaname was now being half-dragged in the other direction. "Stop! Fine! I can walk myself!" She struggled free and angrily began following Sagara.

"Don't walk. Run! And stay close!" Sousuke turned around. "Tokiwa, if they come, stall them!"

"What?" Kyouko asked, confused. But they were already out of sight.

Kaname caught up with Sousuke, who was standing close to an end-of-aisle display. He held out his arm and pushed her behind him with about as much force as could still be considered gentle.

_"Stay here, I'll be right back," _he whispered, and then disappeared into the next aisle. He reappeared a second later. _"Let's go."_

They went down the next aisle which led to the registers with conveyors for groceries. At the end of the aisle, Sagara motioned for Kaname to stop again, and then made a pushing-down motion with a flattened palm. Chidori probably only understood the motion because Sousuke himself crouched down right after. She followed suit, though not without rolling her eyes first.

_"Wait for my signal."_ Sousuke drew his weapon and made a diving shoulder roll into the space between the nearest two register units. He slowly leaned around to look in either direction. Apparently there was some threat, real or imaginary, in one of the directions, because he watched for several seconds before looking straight at Kaname and waving her over.

She obeyed, and ran while staying low to him. They moved to the end of the register where one would claim his or her purchased groceries.

Sousuke pointed to the automatic door. _"They probably haven't shut them off yet. We need to go now."_ From seemingly nowhere Sagara removed a canister-style grenade of some sort and reached for the pin. Before he could remove it, Kaname grabbed his arm. _"What?"_

"**No.**" That was all she said.

Sousuke glanced back at her once more before putting away the grenade. _"Maybe you're right. A discrete exit is best. Go!"_

Sagara ran to the door and pointed his gun in various directions. There was no one around. The door slid open and he moved outside where two police vehicles were parked with their blue lights on. Kaname was right behind him. While Sagara kept his weapon close to him, they ran into the parking lot and took cover behind one of the cars.

_"The other civilians will think we were just like them and clearing out. We shouldn't have raised suspicion."_

Sure enough, as Kaname looked around, the several other people in the parking lot were looking at the entrance and the police cars more than at the two of them.

"What's going on, Sousuke? I have a bad feeling you're responsible for this."

Sousuke took a few breaths and began to explain while watching the store entrance through the car windows. "I was watching the entrance. There was little chance of there being a planted terrorist inside the store already as you and Tokiwa decided to go here on a whim. I--"

"You were watching us the whole time?" Kaname said incredulously.

"Of course. While on scheduled routes it is necessary. I decided to give you as much privacy as possible while you were inside, so I waited on the bench."

Chidori wouldn't have said so, but she had to admit that Sagara had a point about the scheduled routes. If she was still a target, the danger was greatest then. And she was put somewhat at ease by the fact that Sousuke was deliberately leaving them alone at least occasionally.

"I was watching the entrance, when two very suspicious young men walked in. I decided to follow them."

"Suspicious? How were they suspicious in your warped mind?" Kaname said sarcastically.

"They were wearing dark suits and sunglasses and had earpieces."

"...Oh." Chidori couldn't very well say that wasn't suspicious.

"I couldn't let their young age cloud my judgment. I saw both of them very carefully inspecting any female student vaguely resembling your body type. They were pointing and speaking softly to each other. It was time for action. I drew my weapon and began to move in."

Sagara continued dictating while watching the entrance. "Unfortunately, by sheer chance, a police officer saw us at that moment. I explained the situation as briefly as possible, but the two suspicious young men began to flee. I had no choice but to chase them. The officers were probably looking for these men as well. Still, I felt it best to get you out. I just hope the officers are coordinated to take down those two, as they may have been very well trained."

"...I... I see." For once it seemed Sousuke had made rational choices.

"There!" Sagara said suddenly.

Kaname looked through the car windows. There were the two "men" Sousuke had described. They were probably fifteen or sixteen years old. They were walking out looking frightened. Chidori felt her blood pressure rising.

Sousuke tightened his grip on his pistol. _"We should be prepared to move if they spot us."_

**Fwack!** Chidori's fan came down with severe punishment on Sousuke's head.

"You idiot!"

"Wh--?"

"Look at those two! They're obviously supposed to be _those_ two spies from _that_ movie! It's _Halloween, _you moron!"

"Huh? Halloween?"

"Yes! Halloween! Hall. O. Ween. You know? That time of the year when people dress up as ghosts and celebrities and video game characters?"

"But how can you tell they're not--"

"What sort of real-life spies would have hair like that?!"

Sousuke looked. One of them had spiky blond hair and the other's was formed into a strange-looking ponytail. "...I hadn't noticed that before."

Kaname scratched her head and made an aggravated noise.

"But still, it's suspic--"

**Whack!** "_You're_ the suspicious one! All these police are here because of _you_!"

Sagara looked confused. "No, I'm sure the officer understood--"

The sound of a man speaking through a megaphone interrupted them.

"Everyone please stay calm," the apparently ranking police officer said. "We are currently looking for a young man in a Jindai High School uniform with dark hair. He _is_ armed."

Sousuke's eyes got wide and sweat began to run down his face. "N--Not good."

"I swear, Sousuke, you've really done it this time."

Sagara looked down at his pistol. "I..."

"Would Amalgam or whatever terrorist organization really send people in suits and sunglasses and stuff anyway?"

"...Well, it isn't likely they'd be so obvious."

Kaname sighed and stood up. She waved her hand over her head. "Hey, I saw that guy!" She shouted.

"Chidori!" Sousuke protested anxiously.

_"Shut up._" Kaname said through gritted teeth while still faking a smile. She jogged out to the police car.

"Miss? You saw him? Which way did he go?"

"You mean the guy with the toy gun, right?"

"What? Toy gun?" The ranking officer turned around and looked at a younger one.

"I'm--I'm pretty sure it was real...," he said.

"What?" Kaname said, chuckling slightly. "No way! It had an orange tip and everything."

Under the ranking officer's scrutiny, the younger one said, "Well... I didn't see it from the right angle to..."

"Yeah, he came up to me and was like, 'Hey, wanna be rescued?' He seemed a little weird at first but he said it was a Halloween dare and he had to do it or he'd have to swim in some lake naked or something. I don't know if he was joking, but it seemed fun so I decided to let him 'rescue' me." Kaname laughed again. "I didn't know it'd cause all this trouble."

"...Well, brandishing a toy gun in public is still a crime. We'll have to take him in. Where is he now?"

"What? Now? I don't know. As soon as we got out he said 'Thanks!' and ran off."

"You didn't know him?"

"No way. I'd never seen him before."

"Could you describe him?"

"Not really any better than what you just said..."

"Hmm..."

"If I see him again I'll let you guys know, though, okay?"

"...Alright. Thanks, Miss."

"Sure."

"Kana-chan!" Kyouko called from across the parking lot. She ran over. "Where's Sagara-kun?"

"Huh? Sagara? Was he here?" Kaname put her hand up to her mouth and cleared her throat with her back facing the officers. Upon lowering her hand she made a zipping motion across her lips.

Kyouko looked confused for a moment. "Oh, never mind, I thought you said he was meeting you here."

"No, my _brother_'s not even in town right now," she said. "Sorry for the trouble, officers!" Kaname said, waving.

She and Kyouko walked out into the parking lot.

"What was that about?" Kyouko said. You don't even have a brother...

"I'll call you later and tell you about it, okay?"

Kyouko suddenly spotted Sousuke, who was still behind the same car, breathing a sigh of relief. "...Oh, okay. See you later, then."

"See ya." Kaname kept walking for a few more seconds but eventually turned and walked between a van and another car.

Sousuke appeared a few seconds later. "Chidori... You saved me."

"Yeah, you owe me big time for this one."

"Yes. That is definitely true. If there is a way I can repay you..."

"Actually...," Kaname said, looking at the sky. "I _guess_ you could do something."

"Anything."

"Well... hmm..." She paused for a few seconds. "Oh well, I can't think of anything good. Just take me to a movie or something, I guess."

"...Is that all? Surely there's something else you--"

"Fine, don't. Geez. I was just trying to make it easy on you. You can just feel guilty about it instead."

"...A movie it is," Sousuke said seriously.

Kaname had to turn away to hide her smile. She turned around after a moment. "Well, since you also ruined my after-school shopping with Kyouko, you need to apologize to her, too."

"Affirmative."

Kaname started walking towards her apartment which was still a few miles away. Sousuke caught up with her.

After a minute of walking in silence, Kaname looked over at him. He seemed to be confused, and probably was reviewing what happened.

"There's one thing I still don't understand," he said at last.

"And that is?" Kaname said with mild annoyance that Sagara wouldn't just let it be.

"If those two weren't looking to kidnap you, why were they scrutinizing all the female students like that?"

"...You really just don't get it, Sousuke."

Sagara sighed. "Japanese culture is so confusing."

"It has nothing to do with Japan!"

(End of Hitosawagase, Second Omake)


End file.
